Next time you are at the doctor's office, take off your blue suede shoes, sit on the table with your tongue hanging out like a hound dog's and say, "Ahhh you lonesome tonight?"

But only if your doctor is Robert "Von" Moody, family practitioner and Elvis impersonator.Moody will perform as Elvis on May 5 to benefit the Utah Valley Community College health services.

"Dr. Moody and the health clinic seemed like a natural match," Tom Hover, director of UVCC student services, said Wednesday. "He is concerned about health care and has done benefits like this in the past."

UVCC is collecting funds for an on-campus health facility to be located in an expansion of the student union building. The 30,000-foot expansion will cost about $3 million, including furnishings and equipment; the new health clinic will use approximately $60,000 of that amount.

The expansion will also provide space to be used for an enlarged cafeteria, dining area, student lounge and bookstore, and space for new conference rooms, student government offices, a television room with headphones, a copy center and a 300- to 500-seat theater.

Hover said the clinic will allow students without funds for a trip to the doctor a chance to get a prescription to treat their flu, colds or other minor ailments. More serious complaints will be referred to local doctors or hospitals.

Part of the cost for student visits will be paid with a new activity fee, suggested at $2 per semester. The remaining cost, which Hover said will be minimal, will be paid by the ailing student.

"We see it mainly as a `first visit' clinic to keep students in school who would otherwise stay home and attempt to self-medicate because they could not afford help," Hover said.

The clinic will be staffed with a nurse practitioner who will consult an on-call doctor on more difficult cases and to prescribe drugs.

View Comments

"The space, heat, lights and janitorial services will come from the student union budget," Hover said. "We will have to put in beds and equipment, and pay the nurse practitioner." Hover projected first-year construction and operating costs at $60,000; from the second year on, he said the cost of the center should be about $45,000 annually.

Most of the student center expansion will be funded by the sale of bonds, to be repaid with student activity fee money and profits from college auxiliary services.

The project architect will be selected on May 10, Hover said.

For information on Moody's fund-raising Elvis performance, call 222-8000, ext. 630.

Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.