“We’re kind of looking at this as a pilot,” Hauser said.”We’re hoping under this new arrangement, we’ll be able to be open more hours for the benefit of students.”
The university also hopes to benefit from McCullough-Hyde’s expertise for billing, coding and collections for medical procedures, she said.
Miami University, Butler County’s largest employer, and McCullough-Hyde, the county’s lone independent hospital, have a one-year contract that expires June 30, 2014, for management of the health center. The value of the contract depends on shared savings from the new arrangement, she said.
The contract will be re-evaluated after it ends next year.
The hospital is providing a full-time practice coordinator and part-time medical director to the center. Doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, a pharmacist, and medical record keepers working at the center are university employees, Hauser said.
Previously, Miami University managed the health center. But the center’s former medical director resigned in July to take a position elsewhere. Earlier in 2013 the university’s assistant vice president for student affairs, whose responsibilities included the health center, also resigned to take a job elsewhere, Hauser said. The changes led university officials to consider a collaboration, following a national trend of more universities partnering on student health centers, she said.
The student health center during the 2012 to 2013 academic year had 18,562 visits, Scott Walter, the university’s assistant vice president for student affairs, said.
Student Health Services is located at 421 S. Campus Ave., Oxford. It is open to any student. Hours during the academic year are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
Call 513-529-3000 for an appointment.
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