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6 TM WWT MOMMAN PMDAV. ATM M. IW BY MICHAEL BYRD It’s one of the “moat modern facilities of a campus in the state,” according to Dean of * ■% JR * •$* . 186. V’* , 'fMm - ■ ‘ E $| ** * Campus physician Dr. Roy Denney examines student Brenda Hammock. ~.. .V mote* || Xm ■■■a 9HHHB - The man with the pills, pharmacist Doug Almon, dispenses prescriptions to student Andrea Robin son. CARROLLTON IMPORTS POREICN CAR. SERVICE A *\ r ■ wt sanvica \ AZ [ TOYOTA • OATIUN • MO • PIAT • MISCtOII I fP\ £/? I ims • couman • hesta . caph $ others.! f 039 Dixie sr, caaaollton V 832 1486 Infirmary called one of best in state Student Services Bruce Lyon. It’s open 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week and it operates entirely on fees paid by students. It is the West Georgia College Infirmary headed by Dr. Roy Denney, full-time physician. Denney, a Carrollton eye-ear nose-and-throat specialist who has retired from private practice, is at the center from 8 a.m. until lp.m. He has been on the West Georgia staff since fall quarter. When the doctor is not there, the nurses run the center in three 8-hour shifts. Fifteen beds are available for overnight patients. The center is run on the $lB fee paid by all students taking more than six quarter hours. The fee is optional for students taking fewer hours. The clinic also has a full-time registered pharmacist in Doug Almon, who works from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Almon, who worked for 10 years with Robinson Drug Cos. before coming to West Georgia February, says that the campus pharmacy is well stocked with 125 prescription drugs and some over-the-counter medications and is adding to the count all the time. “We’re filling nearly as many prescriptions as a retail pharmacy,” he says. Almon fills between 80 and 100 prescriptions in an average day, predominantly tetracycline, he says, and with the hay-fever season ap proaching, Antihistamines. During the winter months, however, the average was much higher. One day in January, Almon filled a record 212 prescriptions, and the month saw over 2,000 filled. The pharmacy has expanded quite a bit since the state made the requirement that a registered pharmacist must be at the center if prescription drugs are to be dispensed. Generic drugs are used to reduce the cost and 95 parent of the medications are bought through a state-bid contract at about half price. It is not the practice of the center to prescribe placebos (inert medications having only a psychological effect), ac cording to a nurse, who preferred not to be named. “I don’t believe in that. Who’s to say who’s really sick?” she said. Almon agrees, and says he has not filled a prescription with placebos since he has been here. Some medications, such as insulin for diabetics, anti convulsants, and other “maintenance”medications, aren’t stocked at the center. Other services, such as X-rays, have to be handled by other facilities, usually Tanner Memorial Hospital. There is a charge for these services. The clinic is without its own am bulance, and must rely on Public Safety in some cases, but is usually served by Metro of Carrollton. Several health programs other than standard services are offered by the infirmary, including a gynecological (GYN) clinic, formerly the Family Planning Clinic. It is held twice a month and is usually full. Anyone interested must sign up ahead of time because the clinic can only serve 20 people a session. It is booked through May. Pap smears are offered to test for cancer with a charge of $3.50. This is a good deal, according to one nurse, because the fee for a comparable service in a non campus facility would be around $35. Blood analysis is done at Tanner. A small lab at the campus facility handles other types of blood work, along with urinalyses, pregnancy tests, throat cultures, and tests for mononucleosis. Veneral ADAM & EVE STYLE SHOP First Tuesday Mall 834-0646 STYLES S B OO -* l 000O 00 HAIRCUTS S 4 OO - SSOO disease testing is done here. There is no charge for V.D. screening. If diagnosed, Veneral disease is usually treated with a shot of penicillin followed by a prescription of tetracycline. Despite what rumors may be circulating about the infirmary, most treatments are not for V.D., Almon said. Most of the complaints are concerning virus, strep, and “flu-like” symptoms. Some students have com plained that they did not get to see the doctor when they’ve been to the infirmary. One student who was suffering from a stomach disorder which was eventually diagnosed as gastritis, said he was not treated by the doctor, while another student said that she went to the clinic a short time after 1 p.m. and, although the doctor wasn’t in, codeine was prescribed for her pain. According to Dr. Denney, he is available when patients need him. His staff, which he describes as “very competent,” schedules the patients between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. so that when he is there he is constantly attending to patients. Although his usual hours are 8-1, he will see patients at other times if they make arrangements ahead. Dr. Denney says that he doesn’t come in at 7 “if there is no one to see.” Denney con tends that health work is “done by the job, not by the hour. We don’t punch clocks here. You work according to the work you’ve got to do.” “Overall, Dr. Denney feels that the infirmary on this campus is quite adequate for a college of this size. Dr. Denney says that, of course, you can always improve on equip ment,” but “we’re not a hospital.” Most students will never need the full treatment a hospital could provide, however. For them, the infirmary provides the care they’d otherwise have to travel miles to home for.