Health clinic to return to University of Idaho campus

The Vandal Health Clinic — formerly known as the Student Health Clinic — will move back to its Moscow campus location this fall.

The clinic was moved off campus last year to the downtown location of Moscow Family Medicine. It was moved again and is now located next to the QuickCare clinic behind WalMart.

“We don’t have a definitive date of being open, but it’ll be soon,” Dean of Students Blaine Eckles said. “Likely before Thanksgiving, if not sooner than that.”

The on-campus clinic, located in the same building as the Student Health Insurance Office and Vandal Health Education, is in the final stages of being remodeled, Eckles said.

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The clinic will house six exam rooms, a procedure room, office space for physicians and an x-ray room. It is unclear at this time if the clinic will have the capacity to do other types of lab work on site, but those resources will remain available through other healthcare facilities in Moscow.

There is room within the current space to expand.

“The move (back to campus) was ultimately my decision,” Eckles said. “I do
that in consultation with campus leadership, the president. This conversation started last spring as an opportunity for us to engage. President Staben and Provost Wiencek were in support of that, President Green is in support of it as well.”

The clinic was moved to the Gritman Medical Center location behind WalMart during the remodeling process because that location had the capacity to meet student needs better than the downtown Moscow Family Medicine location, Eckles said.

Moscow Family Medicine integrated with Gritman Medical Center last year, Eckles said, which allowed this move to happen.

Eckles said the team behind the move wanted to open the clinic sooner, but the remodel took time. It was originally predicted to open in January, but Eckles said the clinic is likely to open much sooner.

The physician who will be based out of the clinic, Dr. Jacob Christensen, completed a Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at the University of New Mexico last summer and began seeing patients at the current clinic location recently.

Christensen will provide general healthcare in addition to mental, preventative and women’s health services. He will also work with University of Idaho athletic teams as an athletic physician.

Eckles and Christiansen said there should not be any changes in services when the location of the clinic changes.

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Some types of lab work may be unavailable on site, Christianson said, but finding alternatives and other local resources should not be a problem.

The Vandal Health Clinic will be open five days per week — including over academic breaks — and will be open to students, staff, faculty and other members of the campus community. Eckles said this will provide another line of healthcare service for students and ease access to services throughout Moscow, cutting down line sizes and wait times.

Eckles said he will send out a campus-wide email once a final opening date has been set for the clinic. The team plans to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony when the clinic opens.

Lex Miller can be reached at [email protected]