UHC adds vision clinic, space

By: By DAVID WHITE

Posted: 6/12/08

The boarded-up front windows of the University Health Center may make the facility appear closed for renovation.

However, the building is open as the expansion stays on schedule to add a new vision clinic and provide more space for current clinics.

The construction focuses on building a new vision clinic on the first floor of the health center and allocating more space for the Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS). In 1992, a University planning committee finalized the plans for the UHC, but due to the rising construction costs associated with the 1996 Olympic games, the budget forced a reduction in the size of the facility by 14,000 gross square feet.

The original projection for the UHC's usage rate was about 3 to 4 percent, but the actual visit percentage was 14.8 percent.

"In addition to several clinics starting out undersized, in 2002 the University's Counseling and Testing Department merged with the Health Center's Mental Health Clinic to become the CAPS," Jean Chin, health center executive director, said. "During the 1992 planning phase, we did not anticipate the merger and though consolidating those student services was good for delivery of services, suddenly the number of clinicians in that area doubled and exacerbated the space pressures."

The strain on CAPS resources became a main reason for the expansion. Students will have access to more counselors and group therapy rooms, which the current health center cannot accommodate.

In addition to the expanded CAPS services and staff, a new vision clinic with a full-time optometrist and an eye care shop for glasses and contact lens care will be located near the front entrance.

The pharmacy will now offer more over-the-counter medicine, and the Women's Clinic will be augmented to meet the widening gender gap of the current student body.

The construction is expected to be completed in May 2009, and renovations to the current clinics will be finished by the following fall.

When the expansions and renovations are complete, the health center will serve a student body of 40,000.

"We needed this expansion to accommodate the needs of UGA's student body. Our goal was to give our world class students a world class health care experience," Chin said.