Staff Editorial: Pull SHS out of the 'middle'

If Penn's Student Health Services were not located across the street from one of the most notable hospitals in the country, it might be excusable for them to be deemed "middle of the road."

But seeing as how the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is among the nation's best, it is absurd for this University to offer its students worse healthcare than some of its peer institutions.

Yet, in a somewhat subjective study done by The Wall Street Journal, Penn was deemed "middle of the road" when it comes to student healthcare services. The University is in such company as Grinnell College in Iowa and the University of California at Berkeley, but lags behind Harvard and Columbia universities.

Even SHS Director Evelyn Wiener says she is not satisfied with the services offered at Penn, admitting in the WSJ story that Penn's healthcare services are "in the middle" when compared to peer institutions, citing a shortage of examination rooms as a major drawback.

While the study does cite long wait times and the lack of labs and X-ray machines as evidence of Penn's flaws, there is no clear-cut data supporting the distinctions made in the WSJ article.

However, Penn's Health System -- recently spun off into its own not-for-profit entity -- is still heavily connected to the University. In fact, many Penn administrators and professors sit on the Penn Medicine governing board and practice at HUP. These officials are doing little to help the situation, as fewer than 20 rotating physicians deal with the 10,000-plus patients who visit SHS each year seeking various forms of assistance.

Students have complained about the long waits and the quality of service offered at SHS for years. The time has come for Penn administrators to stop settling for mediocrity and allow students to take advantage of the vast medical resources available on this campus.

The University has done studies and surveys to see what changes students would like to see implemented when it comes to healthcare. Now it's time for administrators to institute these changes and move Student Health Services from the middle of the pack to the top tier.

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