Somewhere to go

By Stella Chu

Daily Bruin Contributor

Behind the alley of Breadstiks lies the West Medical Building,
partially hidden by Lot 32’s parking structure. That building
is home to the UCLA Reproductive Health Clinic.

Unknown to many UCLA students, the clinic has provided a full
range of reproductive health services for women and men since
1973.

For many students, however, the Arthur Ashe Center is the main
source of reproductive health information, though the
clinic’s counselors provide educational services.

“I’ve never heard of it,” said Kelly Hamm, a
fourth-year business economics student. “I go to Ashe because
it’s the only health facility I thought we had.”

At the clinic, students may access such services as
gynecological exams, a complete range of birth control methods and
various STD tests as well as walk-in HIV and tuberculosis
testing.

The clinic also provides educational sessions and counseling,
which includes confidential family planning services, and recently
instituted, a specialized program geared toward men and women with
disabilities.

In addition, the clinic now has a newly added examination room
designed for patients with disabilities.

Made up of 11 rooms, including four for counseling, the clinic
also has a staff of five health educators, four nursing staff, and
in one session, four to five on-call doctors.

“The center provides more personal attention,” said
Eva Selski, the clinic’s family planning program director.
“We give patients a more informed avenue.”

Since the clinic is state-funded, it has been able to expand the
availability of comprehensive reproductive health services
regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.

If eligible, patients may receive prescription one-year birth
control at no charge, as well as undergo exams. The
university’s Medical Insurance Plan is readily accepted as
payment along with other medical insurance policies.

“Anybody on campus can come here,” said Jeff Mc
Nairy, the clinic’s program director. “Most services
are covered completely or reimbursement is provided.”

Among other services, the clinic offers a Women’s Health
Package that includes a breast exam, routine gynecological exams
and a pap smear for $25, in comparison to other off-campus clinics
that can charge up to $65. This is a service that Mc Nairy calls an
“unreal deal.”

Many students say that the off-campus location of the clinic
provides better privacy than such alternatives as the Ashe Center,
which is located at one of the campus’s busiest areas.

“I think being off-campus would encourage more students to
go ,” said first-year undeclared student Dana Finkey.

“These sex issues are sensitive and personal
problems,” Selski said. “The clinic provides a more
comfortable atmosphere because it is not on campus.”

With 55 percent of the patients coming in for birth control, and
30 percent involved in prenatal care, the clinic is often mistaken
as a health facility purely dedicated to women’s services.
Yet many services including HIV testing and STD exams for men are
available.

“The clinic has a large staff of male health
educators,” Mc Nairy said. “It’s a reproductive
health facility for women and men.”

Despite the wide array of services, many students still
don’t know about the center.

Clinic information access through UCLA links has been minimal,
and it does not have a current listing on the UCLA Medical Center
Web site.

“It’s the best kept secret on campus,” Selski
said.

“We’re not listed under Campus Resources although
we’ve been around since 1973,” she added.

The clinic has been involved in community outreach programs and
just recently implemented a more intensive student outreach program
three months ago.

“A student came into the clinic and told me that she never
knew that we even existed,” Selski said. “That’s
what sparked the new outreach program.”

That program has consisted of dorm presentations and Public
Health Department class lectures as well as condom distributions on
Bruin Walk.

Many of these programs have already been in effect, but now the
clinic is trying to expand the outreach population.

“We’ve always seemed to keep a low profile,
that’s probably why no one knows about us,” said
Selski.

The clinic receives more patients from the outside community
than it does students.

“I know a little about the clinic because they were
handing out condoms and information on Bruin Walk,” said
first-year chemical engineering student Stephanie Yoshida.
“But I still don’t know much about it.”

In addition to such appearances on Bruin Walk, the clinic plans
to continue the classroom lectures

“You can’t do marketing and outreach all together,
but we’re starting to expand more,” Selski said.
“We hope more students will come.”

The clinic is located at 1010 Veteran Avenue. Call (310)
825-5441 to find out about the clinic or to make an
appointment.