The Student Health center has a variety of programs set up to help students, and serves as the closest available option for students who experience a health issue. It doesn’t need any new resources to do its job better than it already is.

According to the page on elcamino.edu, “Our goal is that students will utilize medical services, workshops and community outreach programs sponsored by the SHS throughout the academic calendar year to help maintain optimum mental and physical wellness.”

The health center offers free services such as testing for HIV, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, as well as an on-site chiropractor that is available by appointment, according to their information sheet.

These services are currently free, but they cannot remain free if the health center is to be expanded.

Putting more money into the health center would likely require an increase in the health fee that students pay every semester, and with students already paying for other things like books, this would only add more to the financial burden.

The health center doesn’t have enough traffic to garner expansion either, as most students don’t even know of the health center, or can visit their own personal physicians.

For students who already have a doctor, they should know that the health center doesn’t just do testing, but they also host workshops for mental health.

Free workshops such as the test anxiety and stress management course offer techniques that can be used to help you academically, or ease the pain of a tough semester.

Others like the college students and substance abuse course offer help for those who either have an addiction problem or know someone who does.

The abundance of services already offered shows that the health center is in good standing and that it doesn’t need additional resources.

The hours for the health center are already unusual for a building of the type, and expansion of the center would change their schedule and possibly bring in new employees.

New employees have to be paid, and that cost would also add to the bill of expansion.

The notion of adding new programs, employees, and expanding hours will come at a great cost to students, and it is not a necessary one as the center has already proven to function properly at it’s current state.

The health center was not available for comment prior to this publication.