Key Leaders and Factions During & After the Riots
Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner
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"As the city's health commissioner... I spoke with a 62-year-old woman who had a heart attack a year ago and who had stopped taking her blood pressure and blood-thinning medications. Her pharmacy was one of the dozen that burned down, and neither she nor the other people in her senior housing building could figure out where to get their prescriptions filled. Her pills ran out two days before, and she'd planned to hold out until the pharmacy reopened."5 - Leana Wen, the Baltimore City Health Commissioner |
As Wen explained, in the course of the violent riots, fires, and looting, the initial priority for health officials was to "make sure that our acute care hospitals were protected and that staff and patients could get to them safely. In the immediate aftermath, our focus was on ensuring that injured patients got triaged and treated."6
The Baltimore City Health Department coordinated with Mayor Rawlings-Blake, the Maryland Health Department, state and city departments such as the Fire Department and local clinics, and private companies to ensure Baltimoreans received essential services during this time. Wen and her staff developed a hospital security plan and set up a central number for individuals impacted by pharmacy closures for prescription transfers, transportation, and medication delivery. According to the Baltimore City Health Department, 13 pharmacies in the city closed due to looting or fire damage.7 Since many residents have limited mobility and depend on pharmacies for prescriptions and for other necessities such as diapers and food, it was important to find ways for people to access such services.8
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"Things that seemed straightforward often were not. Transferring prescriptions from one pharmacy to another would seem easy. But what happens if the pharmacies are in different chains, or if the one that closed was an independent pharmacy where all records were destroyed? The nearest pharmacy may be just a few blocks away, but what if the patient has limited mobility and even a few blocks are prohibitive?" - Leana Wen, the Baltimore City Health Commissioner, NPR May 4, 2015 |
To ensure wider reach of information to community members, the Baltimore City Health Department mobilized student volunteers from universities in the area to visit homes and buildings that belonged to senior residents. They went door-to-door assessing peoples needs and responding to those needs accordingly. In coordination with public and private partners, the Baltimore City Health Department set up the Baltimore Healthcare Access List to provide up-to-date information on closures and operating hours of hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. The Department also collaborated with the State Department of Aging and other local businesses to ensure people had access to food.
With the continued help of local, state, non-profit, and private partners, the Baltimore City Health Department created a Mental Health/Recovery Plan. The plan comprised of a 24-hour crisis line and teams of licensed mental health professionals on call to visit affected neighborhoods to provide group counseling services. They organized mental health professionals at the 189 public schools in the area, while also providing group counseling and health circles at churches and community meetings.9 After the riots, Wen also fast tracked three Baltimore Corps fellowship positions to attend community health fairs and other forums to identify community needs. Their 16-month fellowship roles focused on identifying underlying health issues including mental health, substance abuse, and trauma, and scaling up existing programs to address these needs.10
Despite having an emergency preparedness plan in place, Wen discussed the need to be flexible and to focus on people's needs in real time. In an interview with Public Health Newswire she noted, " "It is also important to be nimble and flexible. The problems we might think people are having may not be what people actually need addressed." She also noted that it is "important to encourage staff to be creative with their approaches ... they need the space and autonomy to come up with solutions themselves." For instance, she mentioned that her staff came up with a plan in conjunction with the police department to protect the Baltimore zoo during the period of unrest and city closings, while also helping closed restaurants during the riots renew their licensures.11
