As stated by the mission statement of the UC Santa Barbara Health Service:

“We provide exceptional, inclusive, compassionate, comprehensive, and integrated healthcare services to promote health and well-being in order to empower students to thrive throughout their university experience.”

With decades of treatment provided for the thousands of students attending UCSB, one would consider the resources from Student Health essential, if not a basic right. However, with the onset of the Ocean Road Project officially in development, the UCSB administration has planned to completely demolish the current Student Health Center with no guaranteed replacement of a new location and services for student health.

 

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

Healthcare resources include(but are not limited to) reproductive care, preventative care, physical therapy, addiction counseling, dental care, vision care, and pharmaceutical services. Even if one does not have UCSHIP, any student can use the on campus student health services. Student healthcare is a necessity for any individual within the undergraduate student body, graduate student body, and healthcare worker that serves at the current location. The lack of convenient access to any of the above resources would completely change the lifestyle of many students at UCSB. 

Having a location on campus to aid with many common ailments supports the overall well being and lifestyle of students. Proximity to a center like the one we have at UCSB means accessible healthcare that may not be an option for students back at their own homes. The human right to healthcare is exercised at this school, and if a demolition occurs of the health center, UCSB will become the only UC without a designated student health center.

The destruction of Student Health would leave the UCSB student body without accessibility to the basic human right of healthcare.

 

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

The Ocean Road Project is part of UCSB’s long range development plan which will produce over 500 housing units prioritizing residences for faculty and staff. The project is estimated to cover over sixteen acres of land on the southwestern perimeter of UCSB and bordering Isla Vista. The establishment of the project would mean a demolition of the current UCSB Student Health Center. Though there is a potential location for a new student health facility, it is only a fraction of the size of the present building. This would likely mean the outsourcing of services to locations in Goleta that are not as accessible or convenient to students on campus and in Isla Vista. 

 

WHY NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT

The Ocean Road project is estimated to be completed over the course of the next 5-10 years. Over the Summer of 2022, vision and dental services were the first services to have been cut from the facility and are now only available in certain locations in Goleta. This outsourcing demonstrates the start of the overall regression of Student Health services. 

During this past summer, the 72nd ASUCSB senate formally condemned the degradation of Student Health services and promised to leverage their financial powers if Student Services were further threatened. With the very right to Health Care in question, it is time for our student representatives to make good on that promise. 

By bringing forward this petition, we the students of UCSB urge ASUCSB and the UCSB administration to work in the best interests of students and their access to healthcare.