Signage on the door of the Williams Village clinic Nov. 1 (Summer Aljobory/CU Independent)
The University of Colorado Boulder Williams Village Clinic, which provided medical services to residents living in the Williams Village residential area, permanently closed on Oct. 14.
Williams Village has its own “Village Center,” which includes a UPS Store, dining hall, market and — until October this year — a clinic. The clinic’s entrance now has a sign that says “Health and Wellness Services at the Village Center is currently closed as of Oct. 14, 2022.”
According to a statement provided to the CU Independent, the university will continue to evaluate the need for future services at the clinic.
“We notified patients of the closure via in-person signage in and around the clinic. We also have the announcement online under the ‘Announcements’ section of the Medical Services main page,” said Andrew Sorensen, a university spokesperson.
According to the statement, officials decided to close the clinic because students utilized the VillageCenter location less than the university expected, while patient volume at Wardenburg Health Center remained high.
“Many students opted to use Wardenburg Health Center, instead of Williams Village,” Sorensen said. “Medical Services is consolidating staffing and resources into the central campus location to meet student demand.”
The clinic opened in 2017 to serve students living in and around Williams Village, one of the newest housing facilities on university property. Will Vill is located southeast of campus, and most students must commute by bus or other forms of transportation to get to campus in a timely manner.
Clare Plunkett, a freshman at CU Boulder who lives in Williams Village, said she believes medical services should be accessible for Will Vill residents.
“From my experience, I wasn’t able to transport to main campus when I was very sick,” Plunkett said. “Having the Will Vill clinic right there for me literally saved my life.”
The Williams Village Clinic was open for drop-in visits in 2022 before its closure and appointment only in years prior.
“It’s a little annoying that it’s closed because it was super convenient to have access for those of us in Will Vill,” said Lily Valdez, a resident at the Bear Creek Apartments, a part of the Williams Village location. “If I was feeling really unwell and didn’t think I could drive all the way out to campus, it was nice to have a location that I could walk to easily.”
The clinic was located on the first floor of the Village Center, but not all Will Vill residents were aware of its existence.
Anna Estes, a graduate student at CU Boulder who lived in Stearns Hall as a freshman and sophomore, said she didn’t know about the clinic before it closed.
“I think it would have been good to know that there was a clinic in Will Vill,” Estes said. “I definitely went to Wardenburg often enough…it would’ve probably been easier to get the same services without going to main campus.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Summer Aljobory at summer.aljobory@colorado.edu.
