Since Ben Domingo assumed the position of director of Syracuse University Health Services in 2011, he’s been making up for lost time.

The center went nearly two years without a director before Domingo was selected.

Since taking the job, Domingo has enacted a litany of changes that emphasize customer service and help improve the reputation of SU Health Services on campus.

“I know it’s going to take some time because I know that there’s still, for some of the upperclassmen, there might be some negative perceptions of Health Services,” he said. “We’re really, really changing because of the people who have been here for a while who are adapting to the changes and because of a lot of the new management who’s really instilled the changes.”

In the almost year and a half Domingo has been at the helm, SU Health Services has hired a new EMS manager and supervising pharmacist, added psychiatric services, lowered the cost of medication at the pharmacy and hired a full-time IT person to make sure the whole operation runs smoothly.

In addition, a few months before Domingo was hired, SU Health Services got a new business manager and medical director.

But all of these changes and improvements were implemented with the same overall goal in mind: customer service. In keeping with this goal, Domingo has centralized all complaints, so any concerns from parents or students come to him personally, he said.

“I really want to know. Gosh, I’ve had 20 people that complained that they’re not getting in soon enough,” he said. “Whatever the complaints are I want to hear what they are and I want to respond and I really want to get an answer that’s not just fluff but an answer that really addresses their concern.”

Domingo is also hoping to change some of the misconceptions students on campus have about SU Health Services. Many students don’t realize their health fee covers them being seen by a medical provider at SU Health Services and that, in general, Health Services is usually a better option than the emergency room, he said.

“Emergency rooms are very good when it comes to emergencies but when it comes to something that’s not, they tend to not be very compassionate, they tend to kind of move you in and out,” Domingo said. “They’re going to say, ‘Well, follow up with your own doctor,’ where here they’re going to get comprehensive care.”

Many students also think it’s hard to get an appointment at SU Health Services, he said.

“With 19-year-olds, everything is an emergency yesterday,” Domingo said.

While part of that is because of the nature of college students and their lack of forethought, Domingo said he also realizes SU Health Services must adapt to this.

Most of the students who come to SU Health Services have acute illnesses such as strep throat or bronchitis, so the center has a go-to provider who can see students with these illnesses right away, he said.

Another way of fixing these misconceptions is by outreach and raising awareness, said Spiro Tzetzis, SU Health Services medical director and a 1991 SU alumnus. SU Health Services now has a Facebook and Twitter account, an updated website and has gotten more involved on campus in hopes of raising its level of visibility, he said.

Another improvement that may be on the horizon is expanding SU Health Service’s facilities, Tzetzis said. A feasibility study is currently underway, and Tzetzis said he’d like to see bigger rooms that are more comfortable for students and offer more privacy.

The study is currently in the preliminary stages of meeting with architects and reviewing design plans for how to improve the facilities, Domingo said. No dates have been set for moving forward with the changes, he said.

One new staff member who has helped bring about change is Michele Frontale, who was hired as a supervising pharmacist last March. Frontale previously worked at Kinney Drugs in Syracuse, which was helpful in her efforts to decrease the price of medications.

“When I first came, I saw that the cost of medication was kind of skewed compared to what’s around in the market area,” she said. “I want to make our pharmacy be the pharmacy of choice of our students and one way of doing that was to decrease our cost of medications.”

To do this, she compared the price of over-the-counter medications to those at CVS/pharmacy and the price of prescription medications to those at Rite Aid and Kinney Drugs. Then, she set the prices at or below the prices of these area stores, Frontale said.

Besides the comparable prices, Frontale said she believes using SU Health Service’s pharmacy offers other benefits for students, namely that they can charge the medication to their bursar account and don’t need to pay out of pocket.

EMS Manager Paul Smyth, who was hired in August 2011, has also made changes that benefit students, Domingo said. Smyth has implemented a paperless computer service so that when a student is transported to the emergency room, a report is automatically sent to SU Health Services so they can follow up with the student, he said.

In addition to improving the services already in place, SU Health Services has added some additional options for students. While SU has always had counseling services available for students, SU Health Services recently hired a psychiatrist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner, Domingo said. Previously, SU Health Services had to refer students to outside psychiatric facilities.

This year, SU Health Services is up for accreditation and the center has already begun preparing to get reaccredited, Domingo said.

SU Health Services is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, and must be reaccredited every three years, according to the SU Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

Accreditation involves examining SU Health Services’ customer service in the pharmacy and the clinic as a whole; making sure policies, procedures and protocols are up to date; and a peer review of medical care, Domingo said.

SU Health Services has been accredited since 1995. Domingo and some of his staff have attended reaccreditation training in preparation for compiling the center’s application and for the on-site visit Sept. 30, he said.

In general, Domingo said having a good team of people around him has made improving SU Health Services easier. He also credits the staff that has been with the center for a while for being open to the changes.

“It’s tough to transition from the old to the new, but most people are on board,” he said. “I’m hoping that the university as a whole has a better perception of us as time goes on.”

Published on January 28, 2013 at 12:41 am

Contact Jessica: jliannet@syr.edu | @JessicaIannetta