2 WIC offices to close as program sees increased demands elsewhere
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The Allegheny County Health Department this week said increased demands at its other Women, Infants, and Children offices led to the decision to temporarily reallocate staff and close two locations until at least the end of the year.
The two WIC offices that closed are the Springdale office at 830 Pittsburgh St. and the Mt. Oliver office at the UPMC South Pittsburgh Health Center, 1630 Arlington Ave.
The closures took effect Tuesday and will continue through the end of December or possibly into January.
The Health Department said in statements to the Tribune-Review that it did not expect the closures to have any impact on overall WIC operations.
Eight other WIC offices remain open.
“These temporary closures of two satellite locations will provide the most efficient use of resources to serve our clients and will also enable improvements to be made to our Mt. Oliver location,” Health Department Interim Director Ron Sugar said in a statement. “We’ve even seen an increase in application volume in September, and these temporary closures will have no impact on current or new participants as the WIC program has sufficient staff to accommodate all.”
The Mt. Oliver office will be renovated during the closure to better suit client needs, Sugar added. It serves about 1,700 people a month.
The Health Department did not mention any planned improvements at the Springdale office, which serves about 700 people.
WIC is a federal health and supplemental nutrition program that offers a variety of services for medically or nutritionally at-risk mothers and children. It’s funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered locally by the Allegheny County Health Department.
The Health Department said people with upcoming appointments at the Springdale office will be able to keep their appointment date and time but would have to go to the Turtle Creek WIC office at 519 Penn Ave.
There will be extra staffers at the Turtle Creek location to handle the demand of the participants attending appointments there, Sugar said.
Clients of the Mt. Oliver office are encouraged to attend appointments at the Downtown Pittsburgh location on the third floor of the Investment Building, 239 Fourth Ave.
The department advised people to call 724-274-6411 to discuss options.