UC Riverside has seen a drastic growth in its student population, enrolling a record of 26,847. Seeking to expand its infrastructure, UCR funds the construction of a new Student Health and Counseling Center. The facility will bolster medical, mental health, and wellbeing services in a more convenient location nearby on-campus student residences.
Construction began in February western portion of Parking Lot 21, south of Linden Street, between Aberdeen Drive and Pentland Way. The project is expected to be completed by summer 2023 and ready for staff to move in that August. The building will be 39,450 square feet with 27,900 square feet of assignable space. It is projected to centralize Student Health Services, The Well, and Counseling and Psychological Services. Currently these facilities are separated, located in separate buildings with Student Health Services at the Veitch Building, which was built in the mid-1960s.
The building will include exam rooms, an urgent care center, a pharmacy, a full-service laboratory, a radiology office, and an ambulance loading area. The second floor will house Counseling and Psychological Services. Mental health professionals will have access to offices for individual appointments as well as larger spaces for group therapy. The Well will have a new conference room, offices, and gathering spaces for its workshops and classes.
In order to emphasize the connections to nature, the conference room will open into a courtyard that overlooks the interior of the campus while the building provides views of the Box Springs Mountains. The design will maximize the natural light that will filter into the building to create an open environment.
According to Dexter Galang, a project manager with the Office of Planning, Design and Construction, the building will incorporate blue, yellow, and green colors that help to identify different clinical areas at the center.
Providing healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of a healthcare building that provides adequate separation and spacing, room for large influx of students, and flexibility for how people enter and leave the building. The new Student Health Center is designed to provide these infrastructures. The location at the northwest end of campus is intended to be accessible to commuter students, with parking nearby, and student residents. These efforts will increase the student health infrastructure and make healthcare more accessible for a burgeoning UCR student population and faculty.
