The Martha’s Vineyard Family Planning Clinic has temporarily moved into offices at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital after water damage forced the closing of its Vineyard Haven offices, a spokesman for the clinic said.
The clinic, run by Health Imperatives, is located on State Road, and suffered damage from a water heater malfunction in an upstairs residential condominium, Emily Boardman Ndulue, director of community engagement, told The Times. Because of the health services provided by the clinic, the services cannot be provided in the damaged office, she said.
Through the clinic’s affiliations with the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, including nurse practitioner Marcy Holmes and Dr. Dan Pesch, ob-gyn, the clinic was offered space in the primary-care wing at the hospital, Ms. Boardman Ndulue said.
“As our director, Emily Gold, said in the press release, they really did save our life,” Ms. Boardman Ndulue said. The clinic provides services to women who can’t find or afford other health services. “We are a safety-net provider, so going two to four weeks without services could be life-changing for these people,” she said.
The clinic’s WIC services, which provides free food to women and infants who need it, is located at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services office on Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs. Because the WIC service had already been relocated, that will remain housed at MVCS offices until the State Road facility is available, she said.
Emergency repairs are expected to take two to four weeks, but could take even longer, Sarah Monast, president of the Friends of the Martha’s Vineyard Family Planning Clinic, told The Times. The Friends group is getting bids together and going through the insurance process, Ms. Monast said.
“It all depends on the availability of contractors,” she said. “They’re in such high demand, but we’re hoping one can be here as soon as possible.”
The hospital is donating space for the clinic’s programs.
The board of directors of Friends of Family Planning of Martha’s Vineyard Inc., which owns the condominium that houses the clinic, thanked the hospital and Michael Loberg for offering the temporary home for the clinic, the release from the Friends of Martha’s Vineyard Family Planning states.
The clinic’s phone number (508-693-1208) remains the same, so patients should make appointments as they have in the past, receiving treatment now at the hospital offices instead of the State Road office in Vineyard Haven.
The hours of operation at the hospital location are as follows:
- Week of Nov. 6: Tuesday, 1-5 pm; Wednesday, 9 am – 8 pm; Thursday, 9 am – 6 pm
- Week of Nov. 13: Tuesday, 1-5 pm; Wednesday, 9 am – 8 pm; Thursday, 9 am – 6 pm
- Week of Nov. 20: Tuesday, 1-5 pm; Wednesday, 9 am – 1 pm
- Week of Nov. 27: Wednesday, 9 am – 8 pm; Thursday, 9 am – 6 pm