Staff at the UPMC Mathilda H. Theiss Health Center in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood were met with an unwelcome surprise Friday morning.
A roof leak on Thanksgiving damaged the health center and ruined the donations they had collected so far for an annual holiday toy drive.
Dr. Jonathan Yadlosky, the center’s medical director, said water coming from the roof damaged the ceiling at the health center. Computers, fax machines, printers and an EKG machine were ruined. A cabinet full of baby formula — including some hard-to-find specialty formulas — was also destroyed.
“A big chunk of the health facility will need to be gutted and replaced,” Yadlosky said, adding that the health center will have to rely largely on virtual options to care for patients over the next few weeks while the facility is repaired.
Insurance will handle repairs to the health care facility itself, Yadlosky said.
But he’s hoping people will embrace the holiday spirit and chip in to replenish the toy drive donations.
“It just happened that the toys were stacked just beneath where one of the ceiling tiles came down,” Yadlosky said. “They’re really not salvageable.”
Every year, the health center accepts donations for a toy drive that benefits families in need who receive care there, Yadlosky said. Many of those families are local to the Hill District neighborhood.
Yadlosky said they’re accepting donations of toys appropriate for children of all ages.
Coats, hats and gloves for all ages are also a priority this year, he said.
The Mathilda H. Theiss Health Center reopened at its current location on Centre Avenue in 2022 after briefly closing because of structural problems at its prior facility. The health center offers primary, pediatric and OB-GYN care, as well as a pharmacy, a nutritionist, a social worker and other services.
Anyone looking to donate can drop off items at the health center or reach out to Jess Magnu, the facility’s community outreach coordinator, at magnuja@upmc.edu.