Glendale College OKs Boost in Health Fees

Having already cut back on student health services because of a reduction in state funding, the Glendale College Board of Trustees on Monday approved an increase in the annual student health fee from $7.50 to $10. Officials estimate that the $2.50 increase will raise $68,000 annually and help make the campus health center self-supporting.

Last year, the college contributed about $53,000 in general fund appropriations in addition to money collected from the health fee to pay for the center. The increase in the fee, which students must pay each February, is the first in more than a decade, said Lawrence Serot, vice president of administrative services.

The center’s budget this year is $218,000, down from $271,000 last year. The cuts included a reduction in doctors’ and evening nurses’ hours, elimination of the women’s clinic and a voluntary reduction of the director’s workweek.