{"id":11576770,"date":"2025-07-24T14:23:59","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11576770"},"modified":"2025-07-24T14:32:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:32:02","slug":"druid-clinic-heat-brandon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/24\/druid-clinic-heat-brandon\/","title":{"rendered":"When it comes to workplace safety, Mayor Scott is on the hot seat | EDITORIAL"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to a recent report<\/a> from the Baltimore Office of the Inspector General, the Druid Sexual Health Clinic has repeatedly been forced to halt essential services, including rapid HIV and Hepatitis C testing, due to extreme indoor temperatures. In June, during a citywide Code Red heat alert, the clinic registered temperatures as high as 86\u00baF, which is well above safe thresholds for medical test kits and human endurance. Staff abandoned overheated rooms, patients complained and testing operations were relocated across town.<\/p>\n

This is not an isolated incident. The same HVAC failures were documented back in 2021, with expired test kits and suspended services acknowledged by the Baltimore City\u00a0Health\u00a0Department. Four years later, the building is still deteriorating and, by the city\u2019s own admission, not up to code. All under the purview of Mayor Brandon Scott.<\/p>\n

Mayor Scott has anchored his administration in the language of equity, which is admirable in many ways. But equity cannot live on policy papers alone. It must manifest in the conditions people face every day. And when clinics in underserved neighborhoods become heat traps, when staff are asked to endure temperatures above 85\u00baF to provide public\u00a0health\u00a0services, equity begins to ring hollow.<\/p>\n

Baltimore has already paid the price for downplaying the danger of heat. Just last year, Department of Public Works employee Ronald Silver II died on the job while working in punishing heat without access to adequate cooling resources. His death wasn\u2019t inevitable. It was a direct consequence of systemic neglect, and it should have spurred urgent reform.<\/p>\n

Instead, the Druid Clinic remains too hot to serve its purpose, too dangerous for its staff and too unreliable for its patients, many of whom struggle to access alternate locations like the Eastern Clinic. As the inspector general\u2019s report makes clear, staff have had to shut down operations when temperatures cross 84\u00baF, often during summer months. The city\u2019s own heat alerts only underscore how routine these disruptions have become.<\/p>\n

This is a failure not only of infrastructure but of moral imagination. What does it say about Baltimore\u2019s priorities when the city cannot even guarantee temperature-regulated spaces for sexual\u00a0health\u00a0services in West Baltimore?<\/p>\n

The solutions aren\u2019t easy, but they\u2019re not mysterious either. If the building can\u2019t support window units or mobile air conditioners, then the city must explore alternate sites, rapid retrofits or even temporary clinics. The wiring issues that prevent staff from using basic cooling equipment are not nuisances, they\u2019re liabilities. And they expose the city to both legal risk and further harm.<\/p>\n

Mayor Scott does not shoulder blame for the entirety of Baltimore\u2019s aging facilities backlog, but he does own the power to act. If equity is his guiding principle, then climate safety must be treated as foundational, not optional. That means developing a transparent remediation plan, allocating emergency funds and working with labor unions and public health leaders to ensure no worker or patient is left vulnerable in oppressive conditions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for the city to stop treating temperature regulation as a technical problem and start recognizing it as a human one. Ronald Silver deserved better. The staff at the Druid Clinic deserve better. And Baltimore\u2019s residents, especially those long underserved, deserve public spaces that are safe and\u00a0healthy.<\/p>\n

Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baltimore city staff are still suffering under dangerous heat conditions, the editorial board writes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":11439896,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-24T18:32:05Z","apple_news_api_id":"934ef522-68f6-4ecf-a30b-6e00a6c2bb4e","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-24T18:32:05Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ak071Imj2Ts-jC24ApsK7Tg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[98,83,96],"tags":[24457],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[2063],"class_list":["post-11576770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-latest-headlines","category-opinion","tag-social"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"96","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"When it comes to workplace safety, Mayor Scott is on the hot seat ","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"inside","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"1753416000","print_slug":"TBS-L-DRUID-0725","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"Baltimore city staff are still suffering under dangerous heat conditions, the editorial board writes.","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":"

According to a recent report<\/a> from the Baltimore Office of the Inspector General, the Druid Sexual Health Clinic has repeatedly been forced to halt essential services, including rapid HIV and Hepatitis C testing, due to extreme indoor temperatures. In June, during a citywide Code Red heat alert, the clinic registered temperatures as high as 86\u00baF, which is well above safe thresholds for medical test kits and human endurance. Staff abandoned overheated rooms, patients complained and testing operations were relocated across town.<\/p>

This is not an isolated incident. The same HVAC failures were documented back in 2021, with expired test kits and suspended services acknowledged by the Baltimore City\u00a0Health\u00a0Department. Four years later, the building is still deteriorating and, by the city\u2019s own admission, not up to code. All under the purview of Mayor Brandon Scott.<\/p>

Mayor Scott has anchored his administration in the language of equity, which is admirable in many ways. But equity cannot live on policy papers alone. It must manifest in the conditions people face every day. And when clinics in underserved neighborhoods become heat traps, when staff are asked to endure temperatures above 85\u00baF to provide public\u00a0health\u00a0services, equity begins to ring hollow.<\/p>

Baltimore has already paid the price for downplaying the danger of heat. Just last year, Department of Public Works employee Ronald Silver II died on the job while working in punishing heat without access to adequate cooling resources. His death wasn\u2019t inevitable. It was a direct consequence of systemic neglect, and it should have spurred urgent reform.<\/p>

Instead, the Druid Clinic remains too hot to serve its purpose, too dangerous for its staff and too unreliable for its patients, many of whom struggle to access alternate locations like the Eastern Clinic. As the inspector general\u2019s report makes clear, staff have had to shut down operations when temperatures cross 84\u00baF, often during summer months. The city\u2019s own heat alerts only underscore how routine these disruptions have become.<\/p>

This is a failure not only of infrastructure but of moral imagination. What does it say about Baltimore\u2019s priorities when the city cannot even guarantee temperature-regulated spaces for sexual\u00a0health\u00a0services in West Baltimore?<\/p>

The solutions aren\u2019t easy, but they\u2019re not mysterious either. If the building can\u2019t support window units or mobile air conditioners, then the city must explore alternate sites, rapid retrofits or even temporary clinics. The wiring issues that prevent staff from using basic cooling equipment are not nuisances, they\u2019re liabilities. And they expose the city to both legal risk and further harm.<\/p>

Mayor Scott does not shoulder blame for the entirety of Baltimore\u2019s aging facilities backlog, but he does own the power to act. If equity is his guiding principle, then climate safety must be treated as foundational, not optional. That means developing a transparent remediation plan, allocating emergency funds and working with labor unions and public health leaders to ensure no worker or patient is left vulnerable in oppressive conditions.<\/p>

It\u2019s time for the city to stop treating temperature regulation as a technical problem and start recognizing it as a human one. Ronald Silver deserved better. The staff at the Druid Clinic deserve better. And Baltimore\u2019s residents, especially those long underserved, deserve public spaces that are safe and\u00a0healthy.<\/p>"},"print_workflow_exported_ts":"1753382137","print_workflow_exported_username":"Philip Caldwell","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":{"print_section":"24225","print_status":"24232","add_export_buttons":"","print_endpoint":"tribune"},"really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":"","market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"premium","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":11439896,"title":"City pushes for passage of the Housing Options and Opportunity Act","filename":"TBS-L-HOUSINGPRESSER-p11-20250512.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TBS-L-HOUSINGPRESSER-p11-20250512.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/city-pushes-for-passage-of-the-housing-options-and-opportunity-act-9\/","alt":"","author":"36","description":"Brandon M. 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