The student health centers at Oxnard, Moorpark and Ventura colleges might have to drastically reduce services in order to continue operating, center staff members told college district trustees Tuesday night.

Since 2001, the cash-strapped centers have not been receiving the state funding and are owed more than $1.3 million. The centers are rapidly depleting their reserves and will run out of cash within the next two academic years.

"The crisis is imminent at Oxnard College," said Mary Jones, director of the Student Health Center at Oxnard College. "Effective June 30, we will not be able to meet the needs of our students."

Oxnard College will not have enough money to fully operate its center next year, and Ventura and Moorpark's centers will run short in 2005-2006, according to the report prepared by Jones and the other health center directors.

The health centers provide a number of services. Students can see a physician or nurse practitioner, get counseling from a psychologist, receive immunizations and low-cost prescriptions, and obtain physicals or other medical work needed to participate in athletic programs or academic programs such as dental hygiene, fire technology or child development. Health center staff members also provide first aid for health emergencies on campus.

Trustees took no action on the issue Tuesday, but trustee Art Hernandez suggested that the centers combine their resources to continue operating on a short-term basis. He also suggested doing some fund raising in the community.

"I'd like to see us put some heads together to come up with a district plan," he said.

Student health centers at community colleges across the state are facing cutbacks because of the state budget crisis, said Kate Hartzell, state president of the California Community Colleges Health Services Association and director of health services at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz.

"The system as a whole is struggling," she said. "I'm using the last of my reserve this year. Next year I'll have a 10 to 30 percent cut in my budget, depending on how enrollment goes."

The colleges receive state money because they are required by the state to provide a set level of services if they collect a $12-per-semester health fee from students. The money, in combination with the collected fees, make up the centers' operating revenue.

The problem is, the state has not been paying the mandated costs, so the only operating revenue the schools have had the past couple of years is from the student fees.

But the state also waives the health center fee for students who receive tuition waivers, and doesn't reimburse the colleges for those costs.

That gives schools with a high number of students with fee waivers even less money to work with. At Oxnard College, 47 percent of students didn't pay the health fee this year. At Ventura College, 31 percent of students get waivers, and at Moorpark, 17 percent of students receive them.

The number of waivers is expected to rise if tuition is raised to $26 per unit as proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jones said.