
Rowan University students held a protest Friday over planned changes in their campus-provided healthcare.
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“Save Lives Not Money.”
That was one of the messages from students frustrated with looming changes in the way they receive campus-provided healthcare at Rowan University and what they’ll be required to pay for it.
A group of about 30 students gathered on the sidewalk around noon Friday outside Winans Hall, the home of the campus Wellness Center. Effective Aug. 1 Rowan will charge insurance companies for campus-provided healthcare and require student copays and students say it will have wide-sweeping impact on them.
On Friday as a stiff, cool breeze cut through the area students stood carrying signs outside the center on Route 322 at the Glassboro campus. The students did not block the entrance to the center which also contains classrooms.
Some drivers passing the protest honked horns in a show of support.
“We are standing out here because … the Rowan administration wants to charge for all services at the Wellness Center. It’s not okay. We can barely afford to eat. We can’t afford copays,” said student Jeraca Marsh. “We are going to be part of 3 percent of the (nation’s colleges) that charges copays for Wellness Center services on campus and that is not okay.”
Signs made for the protest included: “Go On Social Media to Protest Mental Health at Rowan #RUOKAY, ” “20 percent of Wellness Center Counsellors Don’t Have Office Space #RUOkay,” “Make Mental Health a Priority #RUOkay,” “I Can’t Go to Class If I’m Needing Counseling” and “1,500 Students Per Mental Health Counselor.”
“They did not realize the impact this would cause when they created this policy,” said student Hanna Dietrich who was one of the protesters. “It was something they didn’t talk to students about and it’s something they really didn’t talk to anyone on campus about. I’m a little angry.”
Along with the new insurance rules, the university also announced early this month the Wellness Center would affiliate with Rowan Medicine, the university’s School of Osteopathic Medicine.
Rowan says the new procedures are designed to improve access to care without tuition increases.
A student carries a protest sign outside of the Wellness Center at Rowan University in Glassboro Friday. Students are upset with planned charges for on-campus healthcare. (Chris Franklin | For NJ.Com).
But the changes, announced by university president Dr. Ali Houshmand last month, raised student concerns over costs — and privacy.
Some said …read more
Source:: New Jersey Real-Time News