Students praise SRJC’s Student Health Services but say that there’s room to grow

Holly Herman, a third-year SRJC student, attended drop-in appointments for mental health care during the pandemic but had to wait some time to be seen. “I remember during COVID when they would have the drop-in Zoom meetings for people that needed mental health care and waiting for what seemed like hours just to be able to talk to anyone,” she said.

Another SRJC student, Andrew Alfaro, also shared his experience during the pandemic. “COVID really affected my mental health a lot by making me feel isolated and instilled a lot of fear of being exposed to the virus and not knowing if I had been exposed or not,” Alfaro said. 

Alfaro similarly attended drop-in appointments for mental health care during his time stuck at home. “During the pandemic I took advantage of the drop-in Zoom meetings and they gave me some useful tips to help with my anxiety and gave me some suggestions on how to keep busy in a period of quarantine,” he said.

While all the students found the mental health service they received beneficial, they all agreed that there is still room for improvement.

“One thing the Student Health Services could improve on would be increasing staffing and extending their operating hours so it can reduce wait times and ensure that students receive timely and quality care,” Herman said.

Alfaro suggested SRJC’s Student Health Services should take a more direct approach on improving its services. “SRJC could improve its Student Health Services by increasing mental health awareness on campus by seeking feedback from students to assess the effectiveness and satisfaction with the existing health services, such as conducting surveys to gather input on areas that need improvement and identify specific needs of the students,” he said.