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EAST PALESTINE -- For months, East Palestine resident Jami Wallace has told anyone who would listen that those who live near the site of February's Norfolk Southern train derailment are already suffering from adverse health impacts. On Tuesday, she finally felt that she was heard, as East Liverpool hospital CMO Dr. Gretchen Nickell acknowledged that residents do have cause for concern and chemical exposure is a reality -- not a possibility -- in the wake of the rail disaster.
"I think I can speak for everyone here when I say we completely emphasize with what you're saying. It's a very terrible situation you went through," Nickell said. "I am a resident of Columbiana County. I am in Lisbon. I am further away but it's still very concerning. And I have a farm with animals and you wonder 'what about them?' I think it goes through everybody's mind, and you guys are all right here in the middle of it so I empathize with what that must feel like."
For Wallace, those words were both a comfort and a confirmation.
"Someone pinch me. Is there actually a doctor that's not going to fight us?" Wallace said. "We have been fighting our physicians, some who have been our doctors since we were 3 and 4-years old, so it is amazing to hear you not fight us and acknowledge that we have been exposed."
Nickell was joined by Dr. Wesley Vins (Columbiana County Health Commissioner), Tom Andrews (CEO of the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County) and Marcy Patton (executive director of the Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Board) at what was the eighth informational session in a series coordinated by the Region 5 Environmental protection Agency. OhioMeansJobs representatives from both the Columbiana and Mahoning Counties as well as Dianah Fabry of the Mental Health Board also spoke at the session which was the third in a row dedicated to public health.
Nickell has been on the ground since the derailment -- first as the primary physician staffed at the temporary clinic that sprang up days after the derailment and now as the chief doctor at the permanent East Palestine Health Clinic that was established on Walnut Street in April. Nickell likened the derailment to the COVID-19 outbreak, saying that she didn't know much about chemical exposure before Feb. 3, but was able to educate herself by reaching out to other medical experts who did.
"As a medical professional in this community, I certainly didn't know much about those things. I was the doctor that did about 90 percent of the work in the temporary clinic and I got a crash course (in chemical exposure)," she said. "I was fortunate that I had some toxicologists that were willing to take the time and answer the questions that I had. It was just like COVID. We reached out to people who did know."
Nickell fielded questions from residents like Wallace who say they have been diagnosed with continuous sinus, ear and respiratory infections and varying inflammation since the derailment. She explained that "any time you are exposed to something you can have inflammation" before dispelling rumors that the clinic was ordered from the Ohio Department Health (ODH) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to not screen for certain chemicals or provide certain diagnoses.
"I was never given a recommendation to never give a chemical diagnosis. Our diagnosis is chemical exposure for the screening that we do," she said. "We are not checking for vinyl chloride as part of our regular screening but we can certainly check for vinyl chloride. It's not recommended by the Ohio Department of Health as one of the free tests provided but we can order a vinyl chloride test and East Liverpool City Hospital can run that."
When asked what screenings are provided by the clinic, Nickell explained the clinic's recommended testing procedure in detail.
"The lab work that was recommended from the toxicologist for anybody exposed is what is called a 'complete blood count' -- it's your white count, your red count, your platelet count, things that clot the blood - and there is a comprehensive metabolic panel," Nickell said. "And that's going to include all electrolytes and your kidney numbers and your liver numbers and the recommendation is to check those every six months for the first year and then every year after that. And it's based on the patients too. So if the patient comes in and says 'I'm having certain symptoms' then there might be other testing done."
Andrews added that the CAA mobile unit and clinics also provide screening for chemical exposure and said for those without health insurance, the agency offers a sliding scale based on household income.
"We are here to serve the underserved in the community," Andrews said. "We serve about 430 patients from East Palestine. We are trying to build patient bases so we can help those who don't have good health coverage and don't have primary care, so we are here to help in this community"
Patton encouraged those who are experiencing any mental health crisis to take advantage of the resources available cost-free through a state grant. She stressed that help also includes addiction recovery, recognizing the ripple effects created by the derailment.
"We do believe and know individuals who have been through this many of them have struggled with relapse and difficulties with whatever their addiction happens to be " Patton said. "The best thing to do would be to call one of the agencies that treat substance abuse, that would include the Community Action Agency, the Counseling Center, the Family Recovery Center and again all of these agencies have services that can be covered through grants so financial concerns can be taken care of."
Nickell reminded those at the session that East Palestine Health Clinic can also provide mental health treatment. The clinic, she said, is there for all health concerns.
"One of the goals of the clinic was to be a center spot to work with ODH to get you all the resources that you need," Nickell said. "The resources may not all be in that building, but people in that building can direct you to those resources and that means to mental health or to a specialist or to whatever the case may be."
The clinic will also provide referrals to toxicologists for more advanced testing.
"One hundred percent we will do that for you," Nickell said.
The health clinic is now open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The CAA mobile Health Unit makes weekly stops in the village in the parking lot at the First Church of Christ in East Palestine, located at 20 W. Martin St. The mobile unit takes medical appointments on Mondays and mental health appointments on Wednesdays.