×

St. Anthony’s closes free clinic

CARA MORNINGSTAR/Sun-Gazette Sister Henry Lambert, of Sisters of Charity, looks at the remains of the waiting room area inside St. Anthony's Center, 125 E. Willow St. Flood damage inside the St. Anthony’s Center caused the free clinic area to shut down. The soup kitchen remains open, but the clinic has no current plans to reopen.

Due to flood damage from earlier in the summer, St. Anthony’s Center was forced to close down its free clinic.

The free clinic, previously operating in the basement of the center at 125 E. Willow St., received most of the water damage. The soup kitchen remains open on the upper floor, but the clinic has no foreseeable re-entry date.

“It was the first downpour that we had during the summer. It had to be May or June,” said Sister Henry Lambert, of the Sisters of Christian Charity.

She said they have been working to try to clear out the area.

“We had Duraclean come and take care of it,” she said. “They put chemicals around and cleaned everything up. They took the paneling off.”

They aren’t currently worried about mold because it has been cleaned and treated, but the problem is that the damage is so severe the clinic cannot be used.

“The poor came here because it’s a free medical clinic. We have volunteer doctors, nurses and secretaries. It’s an all volunteer program,” she said. “We did a lot for the poor. We paid for their prescriptions … it’s a loss for the poor of this city.”

When asked what it would take to get the clinic back up and running again, she sighed.

“I don’t know what it would take,” she said. “Not for the clinic. We can’t get insurance for the clinic.”

She said if they could get insurance, they might be able to go from there.

“What we really need to do is get this (flood) problem settled before we can do anything,” she said. “It’s all set up here for a clinic. If the problem would be solved with Grafius Run, then we would be able to have the clinic down here and get insurance.”

She said she believes the solution is up to the city.

“We’ve been dealing with this for 37 years, as long as we’ve been here,” she said.

She said they’ve spent thousands of dollars themselves to try to prevent the flooding, but the problem is with Grafius Run.

“Grafius Run needs to take care of this situation of flooding,” she said. “And then we need insurance.”

She said their previous insurance provider dropped them, and with the existing issues, they have been unable to get any insurance coverage.

As for the soup kitchen and the upstairs of the center, she said that much is okay.

“Things are absolutely fine upstairs. The soup kitchen is fine,” she said. “It’s just that this space (downstairs) could be used, but it can’t be.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today