Students are now swallowing their medication under nurses’ supervision and attending clinic hours to receive treatment. These are only a few of the changes that Groton’s  Health Center has undergone this year due to the retirement of Health Center director Nancy Foster, who worked in that position for 22 years, as well as the departures of several other members of the nursing  staff and the school physician.

Nancy Foster’s position was filled by current director Lynn Pittsinger. Ms. Pittsinger is a nurse practitioner who graduated from Bates College, Central Maine Medical Center School of Nursing, and Yale University. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Nursing Practice at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In addition to working at Groton, she also serves as a nurse practitioner for Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. In the Health Center, she works alongside a team of registered nurses, a nurse practitioner and a physician who alternate shifts throughout the week.

Ms. Pittsinger’s arrival has come with a host of changes. She says that these changes are to “try and keep everyone as healthy as possible,”, so that students can attend classes and function optimally.

The most tangible change came as a doorbell installed at the entrance of the Health Center. The bell will call all phones within the Health Center to ensure that students can get assisted when Health Center doors are locked. Before, there existed a possibility that a student who needed treatment at night would be unable to contact someone inside the Health Center. Evie Gomila ’19 described a time when she came to the Health Center after-hours and was locked out. She had to call security to gain entrance. Another tangible sign of change is a check in kiosk that will increase confidentiality at and improve patient flow.

Doors to the Health Center are locked from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. These times largely align with student curfew. And, students are free to access the Health Center whenever they need by using the new doorbell alert system.

Student “clinic hours” have also been instituted seven days a week from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. During these hours, students can come to the Health Center to consult with a doctor or receive allergy shots and vaccinations. “Clinic hours” were instituted so that students could have an opportunity to come in and see a provider for less urgent issues without missing school or athletics. (Students are still able to come in at any time.)

Possibly the biggest change in the Health Center this year is that medications can no longer be kept in dorm rooms. Ms. Pittsinger explained that certain medications, particularly stimulants such as those taken for ADD/ADHD, must be taken in the Health Center in the view of staff. This is a change from last year, when most such medications, could be kept in dorm rooms a few doses at a time.

Ms. Pittsinger says that the change is meant to make medication distribution easy, while also allowing Groton to obey federal and state guidelines. Groton School is held to policy measures for safe distribution of drugs that are highly prone to abuse. The Health Center implemented this change to mitigate the risk of medication use both by those whom the medication is prescribed to and those whom the medication is not prescribed.

However, students find the frequency of Health Center visits inconvenient as well as lacking in privacy.

Director of Counseling Sheilaann Fritz-Ellis said that her department first suggested this change out of concern for abuse by students without prescriptions. “Stimulants are used a lot as cognitive enhancers, and I think unfortunately they are viewed as pretty harmless,” she said. Ms. Fritz-Ellis said that sharing medication is “not an epidemic,” but rather an unfortunate occurrence that necessitates more hoops for those who receive stimulants.

This fact naturally frustrates students who take their medication responsibly. One in every three students at Groton takes prescription medication, according to a recent survey to which 150 students responded. Within this group, about two-thirds must go to Hundred House to receive their medication at least once every day. Of the 20 students who left comments on the survey on the new dispensing system, 19 viewed it partially or wholly negatively.

A survey respondent in fifth form who takes two doses daily of a controlled substance said that she feels like the Health Center doesn’t trust her. She also brought up a secondary concern, “The new rules have made it so inconvenient to get my afternoon medicine that most of the time I don’t get it because it gets in the way of sports practice, which [later] impacts my ability to focus when I am studying.” It remains to be seen whether students not taking their medications frequently due to new policies becomes a widespread issue.

Another concern that has arisen in the new system is that of confidentiality. Survey respondents mentioned that long lines form to receive medication.

While Ms. Pittsinger would not comment on if the current restrictions would be changed, nurse practitioner Kate Maher said, “There are some ideas that are being explored and tried in order to maximize safety and general health for the student population… it is an evolving system.” The changes to the Health Center have been made to better serve students, and only time will tell whether students’ few problems with it will be addressed and resolved.