Columbia abruptly closed the student Health Center in mid-August, just weeks before the start of the Fall 2024 semester.
Dean of Students Doug Eck told the Chronicle that the center shut down due to the closure of a private medical provider, leaving no affordable options to replace with a new physical center. Instead, the college is offering healthcare to students through telehealth provider TimelyCare. It also created a new Student Wellbeing Center that combined the previous Counseling Services and Student Relations offices into a single space.
As students at Columbia College Chicago, we are already struggling to juggle a lot of classes, internships, part-time jobs and the challenge of managing both mental and physical health. The closure of Columbia’s Student Health Center leaves a significant gap in the support we rely on, especially as affordable healthcare access is scarce.
When the Student Health Center closed, we didn’t just lose a place for check-ups. For those of us without the ability to travel home for medical care or who lack insurance to visit an immediate care center, this was a serious blow. The absence of affordable and accessible healthcare on campus which students depended on Columbia to provide is definitely felt through campus.
But is particularly concerning is the lack of access to COVID-19 testing. With the health center’s closure, affordable COVID-19 testing options also disappeared. At a time when the effects of the pandemic are still present and on the rise again, students need to feel safe and accessible testing is a key part of that.
We applaud the launch of the new Center of Wellbeing, merging existing counseling services with student relations offices. While mental health services are vital, the demand for physical healthcare remains urgent. The center’s emphasis on holistic wellness does not replace the medical care many students continue to need. The administration must seek new partnerships with local healthcare providers or find ways to finance healthcare costs to address the gap left by the closure of the Student Health Center.
While the Center of Wellbeing is a positive step, it’s not a full replacement for the care that the Student Health Center once provided. Access to healthcare goes beyond counseling; it includes preventive care, sexual health services and routine medical checkups that many students relied on. These are not services that can be offered through telehealth.
Students who already access community health services know that the waits can be long. Students are competing for free healthcare along with a host of other people in the city, including migrants, the unhoused and working class residents who don’t have access to affordable healthcare.
Columbia College Chicago has a responsibility to help students access these services, especially in a city where healthcare can be expensive. No student should have to choose between their education and their health.
