Health clinic gets 'cool' gift

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - The comfort level at the Virginia Beach Health Clinic on Holland Road went up, as the temperature went down, thanks to a new air conditioning unit.

Executive Director Susan Hellstrom told WAVY.com, "After you ran your news story I received a phone call from a very nice gentleman that runs a plumbing company that said he'd like to help us."

Monday, WAVY.com reported thieves took the old outdoor unit some time over the steamy hot weekend.

The crime made conditions uncomfortable. Fans moved around hot air in the waiting area as the work continued, because patients still needed medical attention.

"I must say that our patients were pretty good about not complaining. They had seen the story on the news. They felt violated that someone would take from a free clinic," Hellstrom said.

One of the volunteer doctors said the sweltering heat inside could have made matters worse for patients who rely on this clinic for chronic diabetes or hypertension care. According to Dr. Harold Markham, "Both of these conditions can be affected by the weather and by stress and extreme temperature. So it is a lot harder on these patients."

But good people responded.

Thomas Yarina who owns A. C. Plumbing, Inc. made some calls and Johnstone Supply gave him a unit.

Yarina said he, with help from Gillespie Mechanical, did the installation work for free for one reason. "Especially with the free clinic, it's a United Way chapter. There's no money there. It's pay it forward. To help somebody else out and in return hopefully somebody will see it and pay it forward to somebody else," Yarina told WAVY.com.

Dr. Markham said, "For them to show up as quickly as they did and on top of that - volunteer to do it, you can't ask for more wonderful people."