Every semester, students at Bakersfield College are charged a $12 health fee. Although mandatory, it buys free medical services available on campus – including prescription medication.

The Student Health Center is confidential and available to all currently enrolled students. By just walking into the office, a student can get pamphlets on various health concerns or grab some common pain relief medication. The same type of medicines cost 59 to 89 cents per pair of pills in the bookstore.

“I just heard about it (the health center). I didn’t know we could come here for pills for headaches and stuff,” said Araceli Aguilar, 18, who came into the center for some pills.

For more intensive health concerns, students can see Dr. Michael Farber. He is the only doctor staffing the center and he works limited hours, but he can write a prescription and provide the medication for free if it is in stock.

He sees an average of 15-20 students each day.

“Most of the things that people come in with, we’re able to treat here,” Farber said.

“Every once in a while you have some life-threatening things, and those have to be sent to the hospital.”

Anything that requires services beyond those available at the center may have a cost. However, students can get direction if in need of a treatment or service not available at the center.

“I’m going to try to treat everything I can here to avoid cost to the student,” Farber said.

Other services provided by the center include pregnancy tests, first aid, hearing and vision screening, diabetes screening and urine tests.

Although the staff in the health center thought getting a full-time psychologist was in the works, that’s not going to happen, at least this year, according to Vice President of Student Services Bill Cordero,

“Unfortunately, we’ve had to pull that position. We’re no longer advertising it due to lack of funding. So, that position will not exist at Bakersfield College next year,” Cordero said.

“Hopefully in the future it will, but currently due to funding, we are not going to fill that position.”

The center is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Friday from 8 a.m. to noon. Farber works from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The Health Center is located on the first floor of the Student Services building, below Financial Aid Services.

“We see and treat everybody that comes in. I’m not a counselor, but I’m a good listener,” Farber said.