INSANITY –
Sept. 29, 2025 – Philadelphia’s city government can address legitimate quality-of-life concerns in Kensington without constraining lifesaving services. Mobile health units exist mainly to serve people who use drugs, who often struggle to access traditional healthcare. But they also offer other kinds of support, like basic medical care and community outreach, to anybody, not just drug users, who would otherwise go without care. Between July 2022 and June 2023, Prevention Point Philadelphia’s mobile and stationary syringe services reached more than 30,000 people, provided 1,103 wound care visits, enrolled 357 new participants in medication-assisted treatment for drug addiction, and distributed over 95,000 doses of naloxone, the medication that reverses opioid overdoses. Demand for these services has surged, with the organization’s client numbers more than tripling over the past three years.
Restricting vans to two fixed locations undermines their core strength: mobility. Outreach teams deploy based on real-time need. Much of Kensington falls within the 19134 zip code, where the Philadelphia Department of Public Health recorded 193 overdose deaths in 2022. A rigid permit system will leave many blocks without timely access to care.
