Students are arriving earlier and earlier at the Student Wellness Hub, waiting for the reception area to open and their numbers to be called. We’re working on solutions to speed up the process and improve access.
Opening Earlier
Beginning on Monday September 30th, the Hub will open its doors from 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday, with our kiosk opening to provide tickets as of 7am when the building opens. Over the next few weeks, we will also add an additional window for intake, so there will be more staff available to book appointments earlier and faster. This should reduce the wait between your arrival and your registration, hopefully making it a little easier to get to that 8:35 class.
Recruiting New Staff
We also know that medical appointments fill up very quickly, and we’re working on improving that too. We have already recruited new clinical staff (one doctor and two nurses), and we’re working to find more GPs who will commit to spending time in our clinic. Because of how the healthcare system is structured, GPs who spend time in our clinic are not University employees; they are independent contractors paid by the government. That means it’s not as simple as “hiring more doctors,” but we’re working on it!
Releasing Appointments
We also know that releasing appointments once weekly creates a bottleneck on Wednesday mornings. We want to resolve this and are exploring options to see how we can structure this differently. As soon as we are confident the alternatives will improve the system, we’ll announce it right here. We’re also looking at how to improve the telephone system to let you know faster when appointments have been booked, so you’re not waiting on hold when no appointments are left.
Better Access to Counsellors
Our first sets of data are beginning to roll in and there is good news—we’ve dramatically improved access to counsellors over last year. Compared to the same period in 2018, the number of students able to see a counsellor has increased by 46%!
Thank you for taking the time to share all your experiences and feedback so far. We hear you, and we’re working hard to continue improving. We’ll continue to problem-solve and adapt as we go!
