Tangier Island Health Foundation

Clinic construction begins: first steps

 

Drill rig arrrives at clinic building site; engineers bore holes and take soil samples for testing. Test results will determine the type of foundation to be laid for the new clinic.

Groundbreaking Held October 4, 2008!

Tangier Island Health Foundation board members break ground for new Tangier Island clinic. From left: Jimmie Carter; Dr. David Nichols; island resident and P.A. Inez Pruitt; E. Carlton ("Buddy") Wilton, Jr.; B.H.B. Hubbard; Captain Lonnie Moore, also a Tangier resident.  (Photo:  Ken Touchton)

Tangier Island may be just a tiny sliver of land in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, but people throughout Virginia and beyond care deeply about the health needs of its people.

That simple fact was demonstrated again and again on October 4th when the Tangier Island Health Foundation held its groundbreaking to mark the impending construction of a modern health clinic to serve the island’s 600 residents.

“How we got here today was because of people responding,” said Foundation Chairman James N. Carter, Jr., who spearheaded the project after touring the current facility in November, 2005. “It’s amazing how many friends you all have.”

Public institutions, foundations and private individuals have shown their support through donations, grants, and pledges that will meet the $1.2 million estimated cost for construction and equipment.  The new facility will replace a 50-year-old structure that’s cramped, ill-equipped and in serious disrepair.

When construction is completed next year, islanders will have a vastly modernized clinic that will be able to handle far more of the islanders’ medical problems, enabling those who are sick to avoid costly trips to the mainland for care. The commute can even be dangerous when inclement weather creates rough seas, and can be particularly taxing on the elderly and those with serious illnesses.

Dr. David Nichols, named “Country Doctor of the Year” in a national competition in 2006, has provided medical care in the outdated facility for 29 years, commuting weekly by boat, plane or helicopter. In the early days it was sometimes so cold in the clinic that you could see your breath, he recounted. “But no one complained.”

When Carter first toured the clinic in 2005, it was an eye-opening experience for Dr. Nichols as well. Carter “made me realize I had become so focused on the patients here that I had become oblivious to the conditions,” Dr. Nichols said. He soon realized that a better future was within reach. “We knew we had a compelling story.”

Dr. Nichols made his comments on a brilliantly sunny Saturday on Tangier. He stood within the spray-painted footprint of the new clinic, with the Tangier water tower as a backdrop. What began as a small event with just a handful of key supporters (and the promise of a much larger celebration when the clinic opens next fall) grew into an island happening. Nearly 200 townspeople attended, with town leaders organizing and hosting a pot-luck lunch for all— complete with live music—after the ceremony.

“Isolated the way we are, this new clinic is very much needed,” said Tangier Mayor James Eskridge, a resident waterman with deep family ties to the island. “We have had a lot of people working on this for a long time—people who don’t even live here, but they care about the community.”

State and federal grants have been supplemented by generous donations from foundations, civic clubs, churches, and individuals. Checks presented at the groundbreaking ranged from $760 raised by a church bake sale, to $12,000 worth of new medical equipment from regional Rotary clubs, to a $50,000 donation from Julien and Terri Patterson, residents of the Washington, D.C. area who have a vacation home in nearby Irvington, Virginia.

Some of the key professionals who have donated their time and expertise to the project from its inception were also recognized, including:

• B.H.B. Hubbard, III, an Irvington lawyer who’s handled all the legal work for the new clinic
• McGuireWoods Consulting, a Richmond firm that was instrumental in securing a $300,000 state grant from the 2006 Virginia General Assembly
• William D. Prillaman, an Irvington architect who designed the new facility
• David Jones, a White Stone contractor who is coordinating the construction process
• Nancy Dykeman, a Gloucester CPA who has handled all the clinic’s accounting work.

Health care on Tangier took another leap forward last year, when Tangier native Inez Pruitt became the island’s first full-time medical professional. Pruitt, who started helping with filing at the clinic after dropping out of high school to marry, eventually earned her GED and, with encouragement from her clinic colleagues, returned to school in 2001 and completed her studies to become a physician’s assistant.

“This is my island, my home, my paradise,” said Pruitt, who was introduced by Dr. Nichols as “the future of Tangier health care.” “I am grateful for [the clinic] we have,” she said. “But I can’t tell you how much more grateful I am that we are getting a new facility.”

As the ceremony wound down, Carter asked everyone “to come up and turn a little piece of dirt.”

“This belongs to all of us,” he said.

National Geographic: A Waterman's Life - Tangier Island

The Chesapeake Bay sustains Tangier Island waterman - James Eskridge, Jr.  It's his history, his living, and - as he tells it - the only future he wants.

Click here to view clip: A Waterman’s Life – Tangier Island

Recipes from the Island

New Shipment of Popular Tangier Island Recipe Book Has Arrived!

When Tangier Island Health Center colleagues Cindy Parks, Cindy Wheatley, and Anna Parks decided on a project to help raise funds for the island’s new health clinic, they had no idea how successful it would be.  “Island Treasures: Collected Recipes,” is now in its third printing.   To date 535 books have been sold and the Tangier Island Health Foundation has received its first gift of the proceeds.

It took two months to collect, type, and print the 202 recipes from island residents. Each section of the book (Appetizers, Soups & Salads, Main Dishes, etc.) is preceded by a “Helpful Hints” page.  Contributors were encouraged to present at least two favorite seafood recipes (crab, of course, features prominently).  Other tasty offerings range from “Cubbit Creek Gumbo” to “Lee’s Tugboat Meatloaf” to “Ain’t Your Mamma’s Banana Pudding.” All are attractively presented in a spiral-bound edition with a clear index and a back section featuring pages on pantry basics, cooking time tables, an equivalency chart, and calorie counts.

Cover art was contributed by Ken Castelli, who will be the island’s artist-in-residence, working with the Tangier History Foundation to create a new museum for the island during the summer of 2008.  The book was published at no initial cost by Morris Press Cookbooks of Kearney, Nebraska.   The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has purchased 200 copies and more than 300 have been sold on the island.

A new shipment has just arrived and copies may be purchased for $12.00 (+ $3.00 shipping charge) by contacting:

Cindy Parks

Tangier Island Health Foundation

PO Box 259

Tangier, VA  23440

Phone:  757-891-2412

Email:   parkscp75@yahoo.com

Or they may be picked up in person from the White Stone Family Practice in White Stone, Virginia.

Please contact:

Kim Clark

Phone:  804-435-3133

Email:   kclark@whitestonefamilypractice.com

Checks should be made payable to the Tangier Island Health Foundation.

10 Places to See in Virginia

'Just a natural playground'

Growing up on a vanishing wisp of land in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay has its advantages.

"Get up in the morning, go out, rove the seashores or go out in a boat," said retired schoolteacher Bruce Gordy, 66, recalling his childhood on Tangier Island. "Look for Indian arrowheads. Play ball all day. Go swimming. Just a natural playground."

- Richmond Times-Dispatch

Click on link above to view article + slideshow.

Tangier Island's History

In the summer of 1608 Captain John Smith began his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. From Cape Charles he traveled up the bay to the Potomac River, continued as far as present-day Washington D. C., and then back down to Jamestown, Virginia. At one point he was very badly hurt by a stingray and had to return to Jamestown to be treated. It was during these two voyages, while looking for fresh water, that he came across a group of islands in the middle of the bay. He named them the "Russell Isles," for a Doctor Russell who was then on board ship with him. This group of islands is known today as Smith, Tangier, and Watts Islands.

Tangier Island is about 6 miles below the Maryland-Virginia State line. In Virginia state records, all the islands below the state line were once known as the "Tangier Islands."

For more information: Tangier Island Guide