A zoning issue could delay medical care at Prevention Point

Patients at Prevention Point Philadelphia, a public health organization for people with addiction and the only brick-and-mortar syringe exchange in the city, could see delays in the medical care they receive there if a zoning change at the property is not resolved.

The issue is an application for a zoning exception that would allow more than one medical provider at a time to offer care at the organization’s Kensington offices. It requires approval by the city zoning board.

The nonprofit offers a number of health services to clients with addiction, including HIV testing, primary care for HIV-positive patients, and treatment of the wounds caused by the animal tranquilizer xylazine, called tranq, which has contaminated most of the opioids sold illicitly in Philadelphia.

Prevention Point has been a controversial presence in its Kensington neighborhood since it opened there more than three decades ago. Some neighbors blame it for enabling drug use through its distribution of sterile syringes, a measure widely supported by public heath experts to prevent the spread of blood-borne illnesses.

Earlier this year, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who has pledged to curb open drug use and dealing in the neighborhood, cut nearly $1 million in Prevention Point’s funding for syringes in her first budget. Experts have warned that her cuts could cause a spike in HIV cases. Parker has said such programs should be privately funded and emphasized her support for wide-ranging public health strategies to address the overdose epidemic.

Now, a neighborhood committee has voted against allowing Prevention Point to obtain a special zoning exception to become a “group medical office.” That would formally allow the organization to host multiple medical providers who see patients simultaneously, as it has for years at its offices in a converted church on Kensington Avenue.

In March, the organization filed for an exception to continue offering this kind of care, said Cari Feiler Bender, Prevention Point’s spokesperson.

If it’s not granted, one medical provider at a time will still be able to provide care at Prevention Point. But that could create delays in care for patients, Bender said. Homelessness and addiction already make it difficult for many Prevention Point patients to access the regular medical care required for serious medical conditions like HIV and infected wounds caused by xylazine use.

“The community and the people who live there are of the utmost importance to us and we are committed to continuing to work with the community as a partner,” Bender wrote in an email. “At the same time, the array of medical services provided at our main building is also a vital and necessary public good that [is] desperately needed in Kensington.”

A city spokesperson said in an email it was “too early” to say whether the city has plans to expand medical services for people with addiction in Kensington to make up for those delays if the exception is not approved.

For now, health-care services offered at Prevention Point continue as usual, Bender said.

At a community meeting this summer, a civic organization voted to oppose Prevention Point’s request to update its permit, the Kensington Voice reported. The vote is nonbinding: The Zoning Board of Adjustment, which has final say in granting exceptions to the city’s zoning laws, can take neighbors’ opinions into consideration.

The pushback highlighted neighbors’ fatigue over the opioid crisis that has led hundreds of people to use drugs openly in their neighborhood — and the deep skepticism among some about Prevention Point’s presence in the community.

“I’m all for people getting help — this is an illness,” said Roxy Rivera, who runs the civic association Somerset Neighbors for Better Living and voted against allowing the exception. “But where are the residents’ rights? We’re cleaning thousands of needles from our sidewalks, catching people defecating in between our cars, using actively in front of children going to school.”

After years of open drug use in the area, Rivera said, some neighbors are skeptical that the neighborhood’s many programs for people in addiction are working.

A 2019 study found that Prevention Point prevented more than 10,000 HIV cases over 10 years by distributing sterile syringes to people who inject drugs.

And the organization says it offers crucial services to people in addiction who might not seek care elsewhere. Bender said the group also conducts regular street cleanups and delivers groceries to neighbors monthly.

After neighbors voted against the zoning exception, Prevention Point opted to delay a scheduled zoning board hearing in order to hold another public meeting. That meeting has not yet been scheduled.

“Prevention Point wants to work with the community to be the best neighbor possible, listening to and addressing concerns to reach common ground,” Bender wrote.