Councilmember Quetcy Lozada Proposes Legislation to Curb Mobile Health Providers in Kensington

Philadelphia lawmakers will consider legislation that could curb the activities of mobile medical providers treating people who employ drugs by tightening regulations on where and how they can operate in Kensington.

City Council member Quetcy Lozada, whose district is home to the city’s largest open-air drug market, introduced two bills Thursday that aim to restrict the operation of the mobile units, which are typically vans operated by medical personnel or volunteers that deliver food and provide medical services such as wound care, in parts of Kensington.

It’s the latest in a series of legislative efforts to change conditions in Kensington, where Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has also vowed to crack down on open drug employ. Lozada said her office is responding to concerns from residents who say the mobile units attract nuisance crime and leave a mess of trash behind. But some advocates say the bills could push mobile providers out of the area and cut off addicts from the services they offer.

One bill would ban mobile units from operating in residential areas — defined as blocks where more than 80% of the buildings are residential and less than 50% are commercial — or any block that includes a school or municipal recreation center.

The second requires mobile providers to remove all trash within 50 feet of where they park before leaving the area. The law says violators of the modern code will be responsible for “all costs incurred by the city for cleanup.”

» READ MORE: Does Philadelphia Have Enough Addiction Treatment Beds? City Council Seeks Clarity in Kensington.

Complicating matters, both pieces of legislation would apply only to Lozada’s 7th Ward, which includes parts of Kensington, as well as Juniata Park, Frankford, Fairhill, Harrowgate and Northwood. Mobile unit operators could avoid the proposed regulations by moving south to Councilman Mark Squilla’s 1st Ward or northeast to Councilman Mike Driscoll’s 6th Ward.

Lozada said her colleagues are “looking at options for their districts.”

She added that her aim is not to reduce the number of mobile units in the area, but to ensure that the services they offer are not duplicated and to improve relationships between providers.

“They were even fighting each other about parking in a certain spot or what time they were going to be in a certain spot,” Lozada said. “It’s an effort to really continue to enable the mobility services that are essential, but in a way that doesn’t interfere with or impact quality of life.”

Some advocates fear the rules could burden suppliers and cause them to withdraw from Kensington.

Sarah Laurel, executive director of the Savage Sisters group, said her organisation was planning to become mobile after their landlord decided to end their lease on the premises last year. She said if providers moved from Kensington it would cut off drug users from imperative services and “cost lives”.

Advocates acknowledged that some outreach groups that regular Kensington leave behind a mess. Nicole Bixler, co-founder and executive director of Operation in My Backyard, said her organization, which delivers damage control supplies and scorching meals from a van, often cleans a two-block radius around where they park.

But she also feared the bill could limit the number of service providers by restricting where they can operate.

“I don’t know what the goal of all this is, other than to get rid of all the services that support public health,” Bixler said. “It feels like they’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall and trying to stick it.”

Mobile providers are typically run by behavioral health organizations. The city itself has also invested in mobile units that provide a variety of services, including wound care, to people in need in Kensington.

Last year, former Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration used funds — from settlements with pharmaceutical companies — to buy vans that will give people access to methadone, a drug used to treat opioid addiction.