Awards and Honors, Institutional News

Bennington Featured on Cover of Journal of American College Health

Bennington College's Student Health Center was featured on the cover of the April 2020 issue of the Journal of American College Health.

Image of Bennington Student Health Center

From the Journal of American College Health:

The Student Health Center was one of the original chicken coops of the farm transformed to create Bennington College in the 1920’s.

The effort in re-envisioning this building relied on simple forms to create a layering of meaning and effect. The horizontal lattice on the front mimics an agricultural structure in form and articulation, while at the same time providing a visual filter for waiting patients and an environmental solar screen. An additional 1,700 sq. ft. of building footprint was added to the historic structure, while the intimate scale was kept to create a sense of welcoming. The vernacular language of the Vermont aesthetic is expressed through the use of natural materials, such as local slate and wood, and the design also incorporated accessible paths and entrances into the building.

Student Health Services provide students with direct and preventive health care, psychological and psychiatric care, and health counseling by a team of physicians, registered nurses, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrist, women’s health nurse practitioner, and health educator. The medical staff provide primary care services, such as well visits, evaluation and management of acute and chronic medical problems, coordination of care with home physicians, health counseling, specialist referrals, laboratory tests, and medications. The services of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) are used for radiology, emergency care, and specialist consultations, and physicians are on call 24/7.