University of Virginia Library

Flu Prompts Need
For U. Infirmary

During the recent flu epidemic,
I witnessed a situation which I feel
is important enough to comment
upon.

Students at the University
literally poured into the already
over burdened facilities at the
Emergency Room of the University
Hospital only to discover that there
was very little that could be done
other than to rule out any additional
problem. The usual instructions
were to return to the
dormitory, "take aspirin, stay in
bed, and drink plenty of fluids."
How can a student with a fever of
102 to 103 adequately care for
himself? Who is going to prepare
proper meals with sufficient fluids
to prevent complications as dehydration,
etc...

A school of this size without an
infirmary is deplorable! I fail to
understand why nothing, to my
knowledge, has ever been done successfully
about this. If others have
fought for this in the past, they
certainly have not gotten anywhere.

I propose that, with adequate
facilities and funds, an infirmary
could operate with several beds, in
proportion to the student body,
for uncomplicated illnesses. Several
nurses could be employed by the
University to staff the infirmary on
a twenty-four hour basis and meals,
according to doctors' orders, could
be prepared at the University Hospital.
The Student Health
physicians should be primarily responsible
for their care and would
make rounds at the infirmary daily
and as needed.

Allow me to emphasize that I
am pleading for this facility for
those students who do not require
hospitalization, but do need good
nursing care and are too ill to care
for themselves.

While a student here, I can
easily recall feeling horribly and
having to go through the process of
getting dressed and walking over to
Student. Health in all kinds of
weather for my daily follow-up and
then waiting to be seen for what
seemed to be hours.

As an active member of the
health team in Virginia, I find this
situation unbefitting a large university
community and urge the
students and interested faculty to
take the right steps to rectify this
situation. This is certainly not a
reflection on the presently existing
health service, only a comment
about its inadequacy to meet demand.

Election Blues

I was sincerely disappointed in
the results of the Student Council
elections. Although, I voted on the
first day of balloting; I believe that
the polls should have been reopened,
despite the agreement
among the candidates. The election
does not belong to the candidates.
Every student should have, at least,
the opportunity to vote.

If the polls had been reopened,
the results might have been quite
different. The results, excluding the
top two candidates, were very
close. I believe that this was an
injustice to the student body in
many ways.