Health Brigade has been providing medical services to metro Richmond residents in need for 50 years. The nonprofit, formerly known as the Fan Free Clinic, reaches about 12,000 people each year and offers services including mental health counseling, medical care, nutrition and social work at its North Thompson Street clinics and offices. It is a lifeline to some of the area's most medically fragile, and COVID-19 is putting increased pressure on its operations. It's also facing financial challenges, with the pandemic leading to the cancellation of its Brigala fundraiser, which was set for March 13. In announcing the cancellation Executive Director Karen Legato described it as a “devastating financial blow.” We asked Legato to share her thoughts and concerns regarding the pandemic, its impact on Health Brigade, and her takeaways for Richmond residents. Her responses appear below, in her own words.
Karen Legato, executive director of Health Brigade (Photo courtesy Health Brigade)
Health Brigade has a solid history of responding to pandemics, but the stealth nature and rapid spread of COVID-19 are moving faster than we can keep up with. Fortunately, our outstanding medical director, Dr. Wendy Klein, has been proactive for the past several weeks in consulting public health experts and staying on top of the leading science to advise me and our service directors in how to move through this crisis.
Once we canceled our Brigala the day before the event, we immediately moved into planning and enacting a strategy to ensure the safety of our staff and volunteers while also continuing to meet the needs of those we serve. Many of our volunteers were not comfortable coming on site, and the universities were pulling students from on-site field work. The good news is that most people are taking the social distancing seriously, and we are doing everything we can to support people doing that. We are finalizing the transition of our entire operations to virtual and telehealth services. All patients and clients currently under our care are receiving services by phone until our telehealth is fully operational with videoconferencing. Four staff members will remain on our physical site at this time, using lots of social distancing, to process mail, safely distribute prescriptions outside of our building and ensure food cards, emergency response checks, etc. make it out in the mail to clients based on their eligibility.
All service providers will continue to take care of critical patient needs virtually. Mental health providers — staff and volunteers — will use teleconferencing to continue therapies. Our health outreach field teams are also working virtually at this time, staying in touch with their clients and exploring additional ways we can offer prevention services where risks will be reduced.
The best way the public can support us at this time is through donations so that we can flexibly use the funding to keep our operations and full staff intact while also providing some additional services to our patients and clients who are experiencing financial hardships that have worsened due to the crisis.
If you want to help, donate funds to organizations that are doing all they can to meet the needs of all who are most vulnerable at this time — elders, low-income and unemployed people, those lacking access to health care, food and other basic needs. Check in with your neighbors, friends, family, etc. and encourage them to adhere to social distancing and figure out how you can help them without personally being in their space or placing them at risk.
Three Takeaways
1. Our federal government fundamentally failed in preparing and responding to this crisis, and the continued misinformation, confusion and false promises coming directly from the president’s mouth are reckless and dangerous and are putting lives at risk.
2. In contrast to federal officials, our state government and Virginia Department of Health has demonstrated outstanding leadership and expertise, especially in the face of not getting what is needed from the federal government. Adhere to the information coming from VDH.
3. People need to adhere to precautions, go home and stay home — this is not time off for snow days. Every part of our country’s infrastructure is under severe pressure to continue functioning. Our health system is incredibly fragile right now. We need to be smart and keep ourselves well, so we do not spread a virus that has the capacity to kill us and our neighbors.
*The responses above have been edited for clarity.
