At some point, nearly every student at Columbia pays a visit to one of the University's Health Service facilities. However, Barnard College Student Health Services offers significantly different services from the ones Health Services at Columbia offers students at Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of General Studies. Administrators on both sides of the street should work together to equalize these differences or improve inter-school reciprocity.
Both BCSHS and Health Services at Columbia aim to cover the full range of basic health care. The two departments provide similar amenities, but are not exactly alike. Unlike the smaller Barnard facility, Columbia Health Services offers longer hours of operation and stays open during winter, spring, and summer breaks. While a student's insurance eventually refunds the fee, Barnard students must pay an additional $60 to visit HSC. They may only do so for health emergencies from Monday to Friday and are still officially excluded from John Jay's Saturday clinic. These discrepancies are not just one-sided. Barnard students can purchase medications from the BCSHS dispensary at discounted prices with a clinician's prescription and without a parent's insurance card, but Health Services at Columbia affords patients no such luxury.
Health care administrators on both sides of the street should work to equalize the amenities they provide and allow students convenient access to health care assistance. CC, GS, and SEAS undergraduates should have the same access to medications as their Barnard counterparts, whether through BCSHS or through a Columbia-based dispensary. Meanwhile, Barnard students should be offered school-based medical attention on Saturdays and during school breaks. Health Services at Columbia could accommodate Barnard students at the John Jay facility, eliminating the need to open the BCSHS facility for extra hours. HSC already reports that the number of patients they see decreases at these times, so the addition of a few Barnard visitors would not cause the John Jay facility any overwhelming burden. Finally, Barnard students should have access to HSC without all the red tape, because hefty out-of-pocket fees can deter students from seeking the medical assistance they need.
Students' health is vital to their success in school, and students should never choose to forgo medical care because they can't pay for prescriptions on their own or because complex bureaucracy impedes a necessary consultation. Barnard Student Health Services and Health Services at Columbia should either equalize their hours and amenities separately, or work together to keep all undergraduates healthy.
