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Health Services hires director after nearly 2-year search

After nearly two years without a formal director, Health Services has hired one to begin June 1.

Ben Domingo —currently the Health Center director at Morrisville State College — has been hired to the position, said Rebecca Dayton, associate vice president of student affairs for health and wellness, in an email.

The search for a new director began in September 2009, when James Jacobs, the former director, took a job as the director of health services at Ohio State University. Domingo, a family nurse practitioner, said he applied for the job in December 2010. Domingo participated in a phone interview on Jan. 17 and then visited the SU campus on Feb. 22 for an interview with the committee responsible for hiring the director. He visited again at the end of March for a two-day interview session.

‘It was a long, rigorous process, but I wouldn’t go through it if I didn’t want this position,’ said Domingo, who accepted the position April 29.

Domingo has been working at Morrisville for the past 10 years and has experience on multiple college campuses including the University of Albany and Colgate University. At Morrisville, Domingo said he did a lot of clinical visits with students and spent less time working on the administrative side of things, something which will change when he comes to SU, he said.



‘The hardest part of my decision was giving up the large clinical portion that I do for administrative,’ he said. ‘I enjoy seeing students and providing primary care.’

Domingo supervises seven staff members at Morrisville, he said. When he comes to SU that number will jump to 44, a challenge Domingo said he is ready to take. One of Domingo’s biggest goals for when he comes to SU is to promote Health Services, he said.

Domingo said he plans to use more aggressive methods to solicit student feedback on what Health Services is doing well and what Health Services can do better. Domingo said he may send out a mass email to students with a survey to get better feedback on Health Services.

‘I believe 100 percent of students should be aware of what services are available to them,’ he said. ‘If Health Services doesn’t have a lot of visibility then students are paying for a service they’re not taking advantage of.’

medelane@syr.edu





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