Paterson closes city health offices once again due to heat, broken AC

PATERSON — An air-conditioning problem forced Paterson to close its municipal health division Monday morning — the seventh consecutive business day those offices have been shut down.

The health complex at 176 Broadway has opened its doors each morning, but later shut down as rising temperatures exceeded federal workplace safety standards, officials said.

Mayor Andre Sayegh’s administration repeatedly has said in recent weeks that it’s working to fix the air-conditioning. But so far, those efforts have not resolved the problem.

Among the programs affected by the shutdown are the vital statistics office as well as clinics for sexually transmitted diseases, pediatric health, and tuberculous testing.

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Most of those services are conducted on a walk-in basis. As a result, people have been arriving at the health offices only to get turned away.

That happened on Friday at about noon when a van pulled up outside the building and the driver used the vehicle's motorized ramp to lower a man in a wheelchair to the sidewalk.

The driver then pushed the man in the wheelchair up the building’s handicap-accessible ramp and through the door — which was left open to ventilate the building. The driver then left the building and got back inside his vehicle.

But before the van drove away, a security guard from inside the health office hustled to the curb and waved at the driver to stay. The driver then walked back into the health office and brought the man in the wheelchair back to his van. Neither of them would comment on the shutdown.

Within an hour on Friday, three other people came to the closed health offices and left without getting any services.

The situation has stoked frustrations among City Council members.

“It’s not acceptable,” said Councilman Al Abdelaziz. “We have to find a way to solve that issue.”

Members of the governing body said the Sayegh administration has not been providing updates on the health office shutdowns.

“I don’t know what to tell you at this point,” said Councilwoman Maritza Davila. “We’re getting different stories.”

Councilwoman Ruby Cotton said the city can’t keep its health offices open in the excessive heat.

“You can’t expect workers to be in there when it’s 90 degrees,” she said.

Cotton said fixing a broken AC system takes time. “Sometimes you can’t get the parts you need,” she said.