Inspection assesses the procedures for hiring, firing and reprimanding its doctors and nurses. It also reviews policies and procedures, such as how a facility gets rid of infectious waste products, how it screens patients for blood-borne pathogens and how it keeps its medical records, says Dr. Margaret Bridwell, a long-time advocate for the accreditation of college health centers.
“When a facility is accredited, it means that it has met strict criteria and measured up. It’s proof that you’re doing a good job,” said Bridwell, head of the accredited student health center at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.
“Accreditation is a good sign that the school is taking extra steps to provide the best care possible,” added Harriet Bogdanowicz, marketing and communications manager of the AAAHC.
The biggest obstacle to accreditation is often cost, which can range between $2,000 and $5,000, an amount that can represent a significant portion of the total annual health center budget at some smaller colleges, Bridwell says. Also, some university officials view the accreditation process as labor intensive, which adds to their reluctance.
Even if a school’s health center is not accredited, parents and students can learn a lot about it by asking good questions, such as about the staff’s credentials, Bridwell says. “Students and parents need to ask for a ‘Guide to Services’ that outlines what a health center does and how it works. Most universities and colleges have them. And parents need to talk to their children about the limits of the facility.”
Bridwell also advises students and parents to visit the health centers at schools that they are considering. “Check the facility’s hours — when are they there on the weekdays and the weekends? Is it clean? Does it appear to be well run? Are people wearing nametags identifying themselves as doctors, nurse practitioners or simply RNs? Ask what kind of outreach and education they do for students.”
Services vary widely from center to center. Some college health operations offer a registered nurse on staff who decides whether an ill or injured student can stay at the facility or should be sent to a hospital. The registered nurse can hand out rx drugs.
That’s far different from the services offered at the University of Maryland, for example, whose health center is accredited and offers a full array of services, including a staff of internists, allergists and gynecologists. They offer acupuncture, massage therapy and biofeedback, nutritionists, and three psychiatrists.
Michel’s parents Marlene and Laurence Goldberg, of Fort Lee, N.J., sued Northeastern for malpractice, arguing that the university had put their daughter in danger by relying on nurses rather than more highly trained and costly doctors to treat her. “No one ever thought to take a blood test,” complained Marlene Goldberg, still incredulous over what she believes was a lack of proper care for her daughter. “Many of these college health centers just a put a Band-Aid on students who come to them, and then they just send them off.”