Another scathing report card was released on Wednesday regarding the Baltimore City-run Druid Hill Health Clinic on North Avenue.This time the inspector general found the temperature inside the building is having an impact on patient services, test kits and jeopardizing worker safety. 11 News Investigates returned to the clinic that has been covered multiple times before as patients describe conditions as unbearable. Some said it’s been cooler outside in the 90-degree heat than inside. The Inspector General wants immediate action taken to explore alternative locations. Jerome Lunn is currently a patient at the clinic.”I was in there yesterday and it was burning up and I kept asking them people, can you turn on the air, and they keep telling me they working on it,” Lunn said. “It shouldn’t be that hot in there, hotter than outside.”Lunn and other patients of the Druid Hill Clinic are complaining about the temperature inside. Lorraine Ricks and Rhonda Johnson are also patients at the clinic.”It is hot in that building and I wouldn’t advise anybody to go in there and have services done, to go somewhere else,” Ricks said. “It is unbearable,” Johnson said. “I don’t think they are doing their job like they are supposed to.” The conditions got the attention of the City’s Inspector General, Isabel Cumming. Her team inspected the clinic on June 24 and her report noted the impact hot inside temperatures are having on workers, patients and test kits.”So, it is a trifecta of conditions that needs to change,” Cumming said.The OIG inspection spotted several staff office rooms that were not in use because of the heat.”They were so hot, people were actually moving to the center of the building where it was just a little cooler,” Cumming said.The report indicated the staff told investigators the computer service room is supposed to be kept at 70 degrees. If it gets too hot, the electricity will go out. A staff member told the OIG power went out the previous week. Rapid testing for HIV and Hepatitis C was stopped because the high building temperature could cause inaccurate test results. The report notes some test kits had expired because of temperature fluctuations in the building.”The testing kits, the very important testing kits that people come for, can be damaged as a result of the heat,” Cummings said.The OIG report indicates there are not enough windows for external air conditioning units and the electrical wiring could not support freestanding AC units. The clinic went through several unscheduled closures because of the heat. Staff told investigators it happens repeatedly from May through September. “We have employees that are working in these conditions, and we had patients were literally saying ‘Oh my God, it is so hot’,” Cummings said.The Inspector General wants immediate action taken to explore alternative locations.
Another scathing report card was released on Wednesday regarding the Baltimore City-run Druid Hill Health Clinic on North Avenue.
This time the inspector general found the temperature inside the building is having an impact on patient services, test kits and jeopardizing worker safety.
11 News Investigates returned to the clinic that has been covered multiple times before as patients describe conditions as unbearable.
Some said it’s been cooler outside in the 90-degree heat than inside. The Inspector General wants immediate action taken to explore alternative locations. Jerome Lunn is currently a patient at the clinic.
“I was in there yesterday and it was burning up and I kept asking them people, can you turn on the air, and they keep telling me they working on it,” Lunn said. “It shouldn’t be that hot in there, hotter than outside.”
Lunn and other patients of the Druid Hill Clinic are complaining about the temperature inside. Lorraine Ricks and Rhonda Johnson are also patients at the clinic.
“It is hot in that building and I wouldn’t advise anybody to go in there and have services done, to go somewhere else,” Ricks said.
“It is unbearable,” Johnson said. “I don’t think they are doing their job like they are supposed to.”
The conditions got the attention of the City’s Inspector General, Isabel Cumming. Her team inspected the clinic on June 24 and her report noted the impact hot inside temperatures are having on workers, patients and test kits.
“So, it is a trifecta of conditions that needs to change,” Cumming said.
The OIG inspection spotted several staff office rooms that were not in use because of the heat.
“They were so hot, people were actually moving to the center of the building where it was just a little cooler,” Cumming said.
The report indicated the staff told investigators the computer service room is supposed to be kept at 70 degrees. If it gets too hot, the electricity will go out. A staff member told the OIG power went out the previous week.
Rapid testing for HIV and Hepatitis C was stopped because the high building temperature could cause inaccurate test results. The report notes some test kits had expired because of temperature fluctuations in the building.
“The testing kits, the very important testing kits that people come for, can be damaged as a result of the heat,” Cummings said.
The OIG report indicates there are not enough windows for external air conditioning units and the electrical wiring could not support freestanding AC units. The clinic went through several unscheduled closures because of the heat. Staff told investigators it happens repeatedly from May through September.
“We have employees that are working in these conditions, and we had patients were literally saying ‘Oh my God, it is so hot’,” Cummings said.
The Inspector General wants immediate action taken to explore alternative locations.
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