In his Sept. 11 State of the University Address, Chancellor Harvey Perlman announced a process to seek proposals for UNL’s student health center, seeking a provider to take responsibility for student health as early as this spring.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Juan Franco outlined the rationale for the proposal in the following message:
“Colleagues:
In the coming week, a request for proposals will be issued to determine if an outside health provider would be interested in constructing a new building and assuming responsibility for the University Health Center. The increasing complexity of medical care suggests that connecting our health center to a private healthcare organization or group could benefit us through purchasing capabilities, electronic medical record implementation, regulatory compliance, and might provide our students access to a broader range of medical services.
As you know, the current building is aging. Constructing a new facility would require an increase in student fees to finance its construction. Therefore, UNL is issuing an RFP to determine if a third party would be willing to provide health care services at an equal or lower cost, as well as construct a new facility at no cost to UNL. If a partner is identified, the anticipated effect of this change will be improved health care services for our students for equal or lower cost.
This action represents major change for the University Health Center, and we all have much hard work ahead of us. I hope that you will embrace this path as one that will ultimately favor our students.
Most importantly, I want to say how proud we are of the quality work, the compassion, dedication and service to our students that have been provided by some 100 University Health Center employees over the years. Change is difficult. This decision to pursue a different model for health care delivery is in the best interest of our students because of the reasons outlined."
(Chancellor Perlman's entire State of the University address is available at http://go.unl.edu/2dr)
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/2dr