Princeton - Weekly Bulletin 11/15/04

Contents

The Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year, except during University breaks and exam weeks, by the Office of Communications. Second class postage paid at Princeton. Postmaster: Send address changes to Princeton Weekly Bulletin, Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542. Permission is given to adapt, reprint or excerpt material from the Bulletin for use in other media.

Subscriptions. The Bulletin is distributed free to faculty, staff and students. Others may subscribe to the Bulletin for $30 for the academic year (half price for current Princeton parents and people over 65). Send a check to Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542.

Deadlines. In general, the copy deadline for each issue is the Friday 10 days in advance of the Monday cover date. The deadline for the Bulletin that covers Dec. 6-Jan. 9 is Wednesday, Nov. 24. A complete publication schedule is available at <deadlines> or by calling (609) 258-3601.

Editor: Ruth Stevens
Calendar editor: Carolyn Geller
Staff writers: Jennifer Greenstein Altmann, Steven Schultz
Contributing writers: Karin Dienst, Eric Quiñones, Danielle Scruggs
Photographer: Denise Applewhite
Design: Margaret Westergaard, Laurel Masten Cantor, Mahlon Lovett
Web edition: Mahlon Lovett

By the numbers

Task Force on Health and Well-Being

The report of the University's Task Force on Health and Well-Being issued Nov. 9 (see story on page 1) recommends the addition of 11 full-time-equivalent staff positions in University Health Services to provide critical services and programs to students.

The reports cites ''the significant, growing and too-often unmet demands on University Health Services for medical and counseling services, particularly in the areas of mental health and urgent outpatient and inpatient medical care.''

Statistics -- which are consistent with national trends -- contained in the report indicate that:

• Over the past six years, the total number of patient encounters at UHS has increased by more than 42 percent, from 46,584 to 66,155.

• With respect to medical services, the number of after-hours urgent care visits last year increased by 40 percent; urgent care medical visits increased by 23 percent, outpatient medical services encounters increased by 14 percent and employee health services visits increased by 18 percent.

• With respect to mental health services, demand for higher acuity services increased over the previous year, with 18 off-campus psychiatric hospitalizations for serious depression and suicidality, psychotic episodes and severe eating disorders. On-campus psychology counseling sessions increased last year by 6 percent following a 17 percent increase the previous year, and inpatient admissions at UHS for depression, anxiety, fatigue and psychotic episodes increased by 39 percent, following an increase of 111 percent in 2002-03.