ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Last year, ground was broken on the Seward County Community College Student Health Center, and last week, that center officially cut the ribbon.
The ribbon-cutting began with some brief remarks from SCCC President Brad Bennett.
“I told this story at the groundbreaking last year, but when I was interviewing in August 2021, VP Luke Dowell was my tour guide, and as we were walking down the sidewalk and came across this building, I asked him ‘What’s this building for?’ and he said ‘That’s for storage.’ I asked ‘Storage for what?’ and he said ‘Mostly, storage for junk.’ I knew we couldn’t have any junk buildings on campus,” Bennett said. “When I got here, I started thinking about what we could do with this building, and we’re just ecstatic for what it’s going to turn into. It’s neat to think we’re we’ve turned what’s been considered an eyesore for so long and created something that will be so, so beneficial to our students. The west half of this facility will serve as a student commons area that will include a movie theater, study rooms and a full kitchen. We house many, many students on campus who don’t have vehicles or any transportation, so for them to be able to come over here and fix a meal is a huge benefit to this campus. The east side will serve as the student health center. As the father of two daughters, one thing I’ll definitely be thinking about when they start looking at colleges is how they take care of their students. I’m ecstatic about this location since it’s right by the dorms, and I couldn’t be happier about this project.”
Executive Director of Athletic Training, Fitness and Student Health Services Liz Hill also expressed happiness about the center now being open.
“It’s going to be a great facility for our students and the college to use. It’s been a long time coming, but this is going to be a huge advantage for the students on campus,” Hill said. “For the student health side, we’ll do preventative services and Linsey [Carter] will see individuals with the common cold, flu, strep throat, etc., and we’ll also do rapid testing for multiple illnesses such as strep throat, COVID-19, and other sickness. Her side will also be able to do some urinalysis for individuals and pregnancy testing. She’s been a wonderful asset to the medical side of everything and does a great job here and in referring students to outside care if needed. There will be that basic medical clinic setting, and BethAnn Volden will be in charge of our mental health services when she’s back here full-time. There are a lot of different services we’ll be able to provide.”
The project took a lot of work, Hill said.
“This project was basically a full gutting and remodeling/renovation,” Hill said. “We looked at the building blueprints and compared them to what we had in mind for how we wanted everything laid out, and we also took some suggestions as far as updates and other things to help turn the building into more of a full clinic side. That was really President Bennett’s vision for this, and I’m proud of how everything turned out.”
Hill said she and her staff are particularly excited about everything being under one roof.
“I’m really excited for everything to be in one location. We used to have the medical/physical health stuff in one spot and the mental health stuff in another spot, so I’m really excited for everything to be under one roof so we collaborate and do more to help promote overall health and wellness for the students,” Hill said. “We have discussed highlighting a certain health issue each month since there are a lot of those recognized, like American Heart Month, National Dental Month, National Eye Care Month, etc., and promoting healthy habits along those lines that might be pertinent to the student population. There will be more collaboration between everyone, and we can help promote different health initiatives like safe sex, proper hygiene during cold/flu season, immunizations, etc. When that kind of information comes from a facility like this, there’s a better chance of it being received and absorbed.”
Hill added she and staff will definitely not be quiet about the new facility.
“We’ll be working with the marketing team and the faculty and staff to make sure the current students are aware of this new facility being open, which I know might be a bit difficult since we’re already kind of far into the school year, but our staff and will plug the new facility every way they can. Then, with the incoming students, every tour will include a stop here so they know where we are and know we exist. There are still a few very minor odds and ends that need to be taken care of to really, truly finish everything, so we’ll be working with the maintenance staff to get all of that work finished up and make sure everything is truly the way it’s supposed to be. The vast majority of the work is done, but there’s still some furniture that needs to be put here and there, and I’m sure there will be some other things that come up. It’ll be great having this building so close to the student population and not separated into different spaces. This facility is here for all students to utilize, it’s free for them to utilize, which is great for them and their parents.”
Overall, Hill said, she is very grateful for the support the project has received from the community.
“It was great seeing so many people out and supporting us for our ribbon-cutting, that means we’re doing something right not just for our campus, but also for the community,” Hill said. “The amount of support we saw at the ribbon-cutting tells me people definitely care about these students and their health, so I hope they also help us with promoting our existence. SCCC is always working to make this the best place and the best campus for ALL students who come onto campus. We put them first, and we want to make sure they have a safe place to go if they need medical assistance.”
