UI clinic understaffed, recruiting new physicians
The UI Student Health Center, although tentatively scheduled to reopen on campus after winter break, will remain at its current downtown location for the time being, said Greg Tatham, assistant vice provost for Student Affairs.
According to Raymond Pankopf, director of Architectural and Engineering Services, delays in construction for the building’s repiping project initially pushed the opening date back to Feb. 2. However, in the wake of the Jan. 10 shooting that left three dead and one wounded — including UI Student Health physician Terri Grzebielski — the clinic is too understaffed to reopen.
Tatham said with one of their three physicians gone and another about to go on maternity leave, Student Health Services elected to continue its operations out of the downtown location until another physician can be recruited.
“We can’t run the operation with one provider,” Tatham said. “If we keep it downtown, there are additional physicians.”
According to Tatham, there’s little rush to move back to campus.
“We’ve had hardly any student complaints about being in the downtown location, so we’re being a little more patient about relocating back to campus,” Tatham said. “Students seem to have gotten used to it and not minded, and there’s the same quality of care, they’re still being taken care of.”
According to Tatham, it can be difficult to recruit physicians to small-town Idaho, since they tend to gravitate toward metropolitan areas. He said Student Health Services was trying to hire a new physician prior to the clinic’s closure. He also said his office is exploring the option of hiring a temporary provider.
“One way or another, we’ll take care of students, it’s just a matter of getting these personnel issues straightened out,” Tatham said. “We’ll get them back as soon as we can, but we’re not going to do with inadequate staffing.”
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected]