Community Bulletin
For more than 120 years, the Elkins hospital now known as Davis Medical Center has been where the Potomac Highlands turns for care. Today that includes expert kidney care close to home — sparing many patients a drive out of the region. Read more →
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BUCKHANNON — Community Care of West Virginia is offering free tetanus shots and collecting cleaning supplies for flood-stricken families in Upshur and Lewis counties, part of the health system’s response to this week’s flash flooding that also forced some of its own clinics to close early.
The organization is urging residents, first responders and volunteers working in flood zones to make sure their tetanus vaccinations are current, and is offering the shots at all of its locations at no cost and with no appointment needed.
“We are offering tetanus shots to people working in the flood zones, whether they’re the residents or first responders or volunteers,” said Ronna Dittman, chief of staff at Community Care of West Virginia. “If they need tetanus shots, they can walk into any one of our clinics and get a shot. There’s no copay, and anything that insurance doesn’t cover, we’re going to waive. We’ll probably be offering those for a while, as long as people are dealing with this.”
The organization pointed residents to the CDC’s tetanus information at cdc.gov/tetanus and a list of its locations at ccwv.org/locations.
Community Care is also collecting cleaning supplies for families in Lewis and Upshur counties facing cleanup and rebuilding. The organization said the items listed are the most urgently needed for now and that it will update the list as other needs arise. It cannot accept bleach, though other collection sites may be able to.
The most urgently needed items are:
- Five-gallon buckets
- Shovels
- Heavy-duty trash bags and contractor bags
- Jugs of water
- Heavy rubber gloves
- Squeegees
- Push brooms
- Mops and mop buckets
- Dehumidifiers
Donations can be dropped off at Community Care of Bridgeport and Community Care of Flatwoods from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The flooding also disrupted Community Care’s own operations. Its locations in Upshur and Lewis counties closed at 5 p.m. Wednesday after staff were affected by Tuesday’s flash flooding, Dittman said, with some employees stranded and unable to get home.
“We had some staff stranded last night, and they haven’t been home for 24 hours,” Dittman said.
Dittman said Wednesday that the organization expected all locations to return to normal hours Thursday, July 23, though that could change depending on what employees found when they reached their homes.
“We are anticipating normal hours at all locations tomorrow. That could change once people get home and see what they’re dealing with or what happens in the morning,” Dittman said. “We’ll make sure we update on Facebook. Right now, our plan is to have everything open back up tomorrow.”
