As of Jan. 11, the boil advisories in Greater Richmond have been lifted. Click here for an explainer on flushing your pipes after a boil advisory.
Hundreds of under- and uninsured people in the Richmond region weren’t able to access health care for parts of the week as many of the city’s free health clinics were forced to close their doors because of a lack of potable water.
Health Brigade has been closed since Winter Storm Blair damaged city infrastructure leading to a city-wide water shortage.
Karen Legato, the organization’s executive director, said on a normal day, the nonprofit serves about 60 people. But on days when the Health Brigade runs syringe exchanges, an additional 70 people could come through the doors.
The nonprofit’s mission is to provide high-quality health services to Richmond area’s least served. Patients come seeking medication, care for seasonal illnesses, as well as chronic care for diabetes, heart conditions, high blood pressure and other types of illnesses that require regular treatment.
Legato said the clinic planned to bring in an endocrinologist to treat patients for hormone-related diseases, like diabetes and thyroid conditions, for monthly care on Jan. 9. The health care organization, which was previously known as the Fan Free Clinic, was forced to cancel all of those appointments because of the temporary closure.
“What that means is it’ll be another month, minimally, before we will be able to get those patients seen,” Legato said.
Health Brigade gets some medicines for free from pharmaceutical companies, and the staff is now trying to figure out how to provide patients who rely on the organization with those prescriptions.
Water began flowing at the site again on Thursday, but Legato said the building relies on two heating systems, one of which uses water to operate. That system, which was turned off earlier in the week, requires about a day’s worth of work from a technician to resume regular functioning. She hoped it would be operational on Saturday.
Despite an inch of snow being forecast Friday in Central Virginia, Legato hopes to open again Monday. She says icy road conditions make it more difficult for people who rely on public transportation to make it to appointments. The Health Brigade staff is trying to provide transportation support for patients who have appointments scheduled next week, and reschedule this week’s canceled appointments.
The organization plans to extend its hours over the next several Fridays to address the expected backlog.
The compounding issues have led Legato to ask for the community’s help by donating bottled water to the nonprofit. Regardless of the city being able to supply residents and businesses with potable water, the Health Brigade spends “probably $8,000 on bottled water a year,” Legato said.
Rufus Phillips, CEO of the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, said CrossOver Healthcare Ministry, Richmond’s other stand-alone free clinic, was also forced to cancel some appointments this week due to the city’s ongoing water shortages. The clinic reopened, but is taking extra precautions to ensure safe conditions for its patients while the city works to restore its clean water.
The Richmond and Henrico Health District reopened all 11 of its clinic locations Thursday.
They serve people who are under and uninsured, offering a variety of public health services — reproductive health care, immunizations and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. The majority were shuttered Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Amy Popovich, RHHD community health nurse manager.
Two of its three main clinical sites in Eastern Henrico and on West Cary Street in Richmond were closed. Smaller resource centers located in the region’s low-income and public housing neighborhoods also closed for portions of the week.
“We were excited to be able to open our doors today, even under a boil water advisory,” Popovich said Thursday. “We ensured staff were trained and had information on operating healthcare clinics. We wanted to balance and be accessible as soon as we knew our facilities were safe for our clients.”
Popovich said RHHD patients in extreme need were transferred to care at RHHD’s West End Henrico location, which stayed open through the week.
RHHD said it’s closely monitoring Friday’s incoming storm and plans to reschedule any of this week’s missed appointments.
“It’s been a really long week,” said Sarah Tunner, director of development at Daily Planet Health Services. Despite challenges with water supply, the health center’s locations remained open all week after closing for a few hours Monday due to the weather.
The organization has facilities in and around the city that provide health and support services to people experiencing homelessness and housing instability, as well as those living in and around public housing.The organization activated emergency response teams as soon as it heard about concerns with the city’s water supply.
“That allowed us to immediately source water on an internal basis and start to put plans in place to make sure that our residential facilities had access to water,” Tunner said.
Those plans included sourcing five gallon jugs of water for cooking and flushing toilets, as well as bringing in transportable bathrooms and cases of drinking water.
Tunner said the Daily Planet had to reschedule some appointments for people unable to utilize telehealth and non-emergency dental appointments. She said employees are prioritizing care for those most in need, with the biggest challenge maintaining communications with their patients to provide accurate and timely information.
Tunner said the situation provides a chance for community members to check in on their neighbors.
“I think this is a great opportunity to reinforce being neighborly,” she said. “Whether that is neighbors in physical structures or neighbors that may be unhoused.”
Resources
- Richmond water homebound needs: 311
- Henrico County call center: (804) 501-4275
- RHHD call center: (804) 205-3501
- Boil water advisory // Aviso de hervir agua
