Established to assist those impacted by the train derailment that resulted in toxic chemicals being released in East Palestine, a health assessment clinic will close after Tuesday with the uncertainty of immediate and long-term medical problems caused by the disaster hanging over the village.

But a new, permanent location in the village will open April 10 at 139 N. Walnut St. to be staffed by East Liverpool City Hospital, said Ken Gordon, an Ohio Department of Health spokesman.

Many in the village don’t have primary care providers, and the state will provide funding to ensure the clinic remains available and free for those without insurance coverage, Gov. Mike DeWine said.

“We think it’s going to improve the quality of life and it’s going to answer some of the questions that people have raised: What am I going to do in the future or what am I going to do now?” he said.

DeWine said the clinic will be in the village for the long term and provide diagnosis. The clinic will allow residents to “have a baseline established and then years ahead they can go in maybe every single year and get checked,” he said.

Dr. Wesley Vins, Columbiana County health commissioner, said his office has “heard a whole range of (health) concerns long-term.”

Vins said at a recent U.S. House subcomittee hearing on the East Palestine derailment: “Certainly cancer is first and foremost because of much of the information that the residents see online and hear as well as reproductive concerns, growth concerns, hormonal concerns.”

Asked about the long-term health impact of the Norfolk Southern derailment, Vins said: “Low levels of (carcinogens) is the initial response. I think the long question is: we don’t know.”

East Palestine was evacuated shortly after the Feb. 3 derailment. Three days after the derailment, five rail cars carrying vinyl chloride were control exploded to avoid a potential uncontrolled explosion that could have caused more extensive damage. The vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals went into the atmosphere causing contamination to soil near the derailment site and to two nearby streams.

Residents were allowed to return home Feb. 8.

But almost immediately, people began complaining of sore throats, headaches and other ailments despite assurances from local, state and federal officials that testing showed safe chemical levels.

ASSESSMENT CLINIC

The assessment clinic opened Feb. 21 at the First Church of Christ, 20 W. Martin St., and is operated by the Ohio Department of Health and the Columbiana County Health District with assistance from East Liverpool City Hospital. There’s also a mobile clinic near the church operated by Community Action Agency of Columbiana County, a local federally qualified health center that helps residents with little or no health insurance on a sliding scale.

Those going to the assessment clinic have their vital signs taken, can take a one-hour Assessment of Chemical Exposure survey and are seen by a doctor, Gordon said.

“People were not treated at the clinic,” said Laura Fauss, public information officer for the Columbiana County Health District. “It was more of a conversation.”

Vins added: “It’s not a treatment or a diagnosis clinic. It’s more about a navigation clinic so we invite the residents to come into talk about and kind of capture their experience and try to summarize and help them try to quantify what their health concerns are. As you can imagine, it’s extremely traumatic being displaced from your home.”

A survey of 514 people who completed after chemical exposure (ACE) surveys either at the clinic, through a health care provider or after federal officials went door-to-door in the village, showed that the top five symptoms were headaches at 74.4 percent, anxiety at 61.1 percent, coughing at 53.4 percent, fatigue and tiredness at 52.6 percent, stuffy nose and sinus congestion at 49.9 percent, and irritation, pain or burning of skin at 49.5 percent, according to the ODH.

“Residents have expressed concerns about immediate health issues of sore throats, headaches and anxiety as well as unknown long-term health concerns including the development of cancer,” Vins said.

No comparisons were made of those who complained of health problems when they first returned home to the present, Fauss said. Also, no data is available on whether those with chronic illnesses are having more trouble since coming back to the village, she said.

The clinic is open to anyone who believes they were impacted by the derailment and toxic chemical release, Fauss said.

EXPANDED CLINIC

The clinic will be open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and then be shut down, she said. An expanded clinic opens April 10.

When the clinic opened Feb. 21, there were considerably more people who wanted to make appointments than now. Recently, the clinic has been open to walk-ins, Fauss said. The volume of traffic there has dropped considerably.

“We refer people and give them resources,” Fauss said.

More than 300 people visited the clinic with some referred to a primary care physician or mental health counselor for follow-up, Vins said.

The new clinic will provide the same services as the current one, but also will provide traditional comprehensive primary care including treatment, prescriptions, lab testing and consultations with specialists when appropriate, DeWine said.

Fauss and Vins said they support the establishment of a permanent health and wellness center in East Palestine.

Vins said he wants the permanent clinic to address residents’ “long-term physical health concerns, anxiety and stress as well as a central location for local resources and information. Families that have health concerns due to potential or unknown exposures related to the Feb. 3 derailment should have a local medical provider made available to them at no cost.”

“There’s not a lot of primary health care in East Palestine,” Fauss said. “It’s vital to have something right there. They’ve already been burdened. They need help.”

At a March 22 Senate committee hearing, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said his company was “in the planning stages of developing a long-term medical compensation fund” — though he didn’t provide specifics.