The University of Rhode Island finished its second remodeling stage for Health Services over J-term, adding a wheelchair-accessible front desk counter, replacing carpeted floors with luxury vinyl tile and replacing seated desks with ergonomic ones.
During the summer of 2024, the north wing of the building was re-designed with new flooring and blinds in the waiting room and surrounding area, according to Susan Zmich, project manager at the URI Office of Small Projects.
The renovation project is being broken up into three separate stages to better synchronize with student volumes, according to the director of Health Services, Jennifer Hodshon.
The second stage of renovation cost a total of $113,000 and was funded by the student health fee, Hodshon said. The first major renovations of Health Services since the 1990s, this remodeling stage spanned from the lobby to the pharmacy, helped to fix hygiene concerns from outdated flooring.
“[The renovation] needed to be done for reasons of infection control because, as disgusting as it sounds, we had carpet in the exam rooms,” Hodshon said. “Pretty much nobody has carpeting in their exam rooms anymore.”
The remodeling focused largely on replacing carpet floors with “luxury vinyl tile”, a surface that better complies with infection control, Zmich said. All exam-room desks were also laminated so they could be cleaned easier.
The entire front desk and lobby were re-designed, both for accessibility reasons and aesthetics, according to Zmich.
“We added an ADA counter so that anybody in a wheelchair can wheel right up and have face-to-face communications with the people at the front desk,” Zmich said.
Changes were also made behind the desk to better accommodate the staff, according to Hodshon.
“The staff before were literally sitting with their knees up,” Hodshon said. “Now we’ve got desks that can raise and lower, and more comfortable seating.”
Since the spring semester started she has heard lots of positive feedback on the seating improvements from staff, Hodshon said.
Near the pharmacy, new signage was added to help students figure out where they were going, according to Zmich. Changes regarding cosmetics throughout the building were made as well.
“We did some accent painting just to make it more welcoming, more Rhody spirit,” Zmich said.
The third stage of the project will take place starting in the summer of 2025, according to Zmich. This renovation will focus on the south wing of the building, which includes nurses stations and a few more exam rooms.
The final goal is to merge Health Services with the Counseling Center, located on the second floor of Roosevelt Hall, to achieve the “gold standard of college health,” according to Hodshon.
“[The integration] is probably not for another four or five years,” Hodshon said. “In the meantime, we need to make the renovations that we can to keep [Health Services] safe and healthy for our students and staff.”
