Yancey Community Health Center

There are 2 accessible spaces near this establishment, both of them being van accessible and sharing the same access aisle

The spaces are about 115-130 feet away from the accessible entrance

There is a very slight slope upwards of the parking lot towards the end of the spaces

The parking lot is made of smooth pavement, there are color-contrasted painted lines on the parking lot surface, and there are wheel stops at the end of both of the accessible spaces

There is signage past one of the spaces to mark it as accessible, but the international symbol of accessibility is painted on the parking lot surface for both of the accessible spaces

There is no signage that marks these accessible spaces as “Van Accessible”, but they meet the dimensions of van accessible spaces

The pathway to get to the entrance from the accessible spaces is not in front of the access aisle, so the car that parks in the accessible space that is further away is expected to go to the back of the access aisle and go around the car that is parked in the closest accessible space - there is no crosswalk or marked out pathway

Just after passing the accessible parking spaces there is a slight vertical change in the parking lot surface, about 0.25” high maximum

After crossing the street past the accessible parking spaces, where there is a marked crosswalk, there is a curb ramp that is made of smooth concrete without any truncated domes, is more than 36” wide, is approximately at an accessible slope, and the curbs are marked with contrasting paint

There is a slight gap in the sidewalk between the curb ramp and the flat landing just beyond it - the gap is about 1” in depth, but there is relatively no vertical change from this gap

Once getting on the landing past the curb ramp, the rest of the sidewalk is smooth, flat, and more than 36” wide

There is a bench near the door that has a seating surface that is 16” above the ground and 18” deep, as well as a backrest and armrests on each side

The main entrance itself is 2 sets of double doors, there is an automatic door opener but it wasn’t working at the time of our visit, each of the doors are about 32-33” wide when fully opened, the threshold is not difficult to navigate over, and it’s possible that the second set of entrance doors could be considered difficult to open force-wise

During our visit, the policy for Blue Ridge Health District, when there was not an event/clinic happening, was that the doors are locked at all times, and clients are expected to either make an appointment and/or call before coming in, there was also a doorbell on the door that could be considered difficult to reach

Between the two sets of entrance doors, there are signs on each of the walls, which may not be in the direct path of travel, that protrude about 12” from the wall in the 30-36” range above the floor

On the outside of the main entrance there is color-contrasted signage that says “A2” with no braille or tactile characters, and on the inside, there is “EXIT” signage (white signs with red letters on the ceiling) to point out the exits, but there is no identifying signage with braille or tactile characters next to the exit doors on the inside

The surface inside of the location is all smooth tile, but there are mats immediately inside and outside of the entrances and in some other locations inside

All or almost all doors inside this building are 32-34” wide when fully open, and almost all doors are either propped open by default

There are 2 areas related to the Blue Ridge Health District inside: the waiting room and the clinic rooms; at times there is a whiteboard in the shape of an arrow that will be out near the main entrance to direct clients to the appropriate spaces for events, clinics, or appointments

The waiting room door has a color-contrasted, paper sign next to it without braille or tactile lettering, the door is propped open with a 33” wide doorway when fully opened, and there is a clipboard hanging from a file holder attached to the door that protrudes 6-7” off the door at about 69-72.5” above the floor

The waiting room is spacious with one rug on the floor, has chairs inside with seating surfaces at accessible heights, has uncovered outlets at accessible heights, and has a kids table with play objects on top of it at accessible heights

The door to the clinic rooms has a color-contrasted, paper sign on it without braille or tactile lettering, and the door is propped open with a 33” wide doorway when fully opened

The first clinic room is very spacious and has at least one chair with a seating surface at an accessible height, and the second clinic room is the main patient room of the clinic

The door to the second, patient room of the clinic is 34” wide when fully open and it is propped open and/or open and closed by staff members escorting you to this room, the room itself has several chairs at accessible heights, and there is an adjustable patient table that goes to an accessible height

The patient room in the clinic has a window with blinds in it (staff members are happy or close this upon request), and the room has a pathway that is about 35” wide to get past the first chair and desk after entering the room, but there is turning space in this room for clients using wheelchairs, and staff members are happy to move around chairs and other objects in the room to maximize space

The gymnasium and the cafeteria may also be used during clinic or events - both of these spaces have propped open doors that are about 33” wide, they are extremely spacious with chairs that have seating surfaces at accessible heights, they both have identifying signage above their doors but no braille or tactile characters/symbols, and there are tables in both spaces at accessible heights (the tables in the cafeteria may have table covers on them that hang about 10-12” over the sides where the chairs go

The “Music Room” near the gymnasium also serves as an extra waiting room for certain clinics or events - there is color-contrasted signage next to the door that says “Music” with braille and tactile lettering, the door stays propped open with a clear width of about 33” when fully opened, the room is spacious, there are chairs with seating surfaces at accessible heights inside, there is a foosball table at 34” above the floor, there is a ping pong table at 30” above the floor, and there are outlets available at accessible heights above the floor

The “Music Room” is connected to the gymnasium, and there are 2 steps to get between them, but there are no handrails for these steps

There is a ramp down to the gymnasium that is at an accessible slope that has handrails on both sides at 36” above the ramp surface

There is an AED Defibrillator that protrudes 6” off the wall at about 64-79” above the floor, as well as a hand sanitizer dispenser below it that protrudes about 4” off the wall, on the left side of the hallway on the way to the gymnasium and “Music Room”, before the ramp

There is one water fountain near the “Music Room” that is accessible and there are 2 water fountains in the cafeteria, where one of them is accessible

Right near the the AED Defibrillator (which is next to the “Music Room”) there is an exit labeled “C2”, located above the door without braille or tactile characters, which leads to an outdoor seating space that would serve as a good quiet space if needed

The exit labeled “C2” is a set of non-automatic double doors that have good maneuvering clearance, have door handles/push bars at accessible heights, are very easy to open, have thresholds that are not difficult to navigate over, and each door has a clear width about 32-33” when fully open; right past the door is a mat that is worn and may not be the easiest to navigate over

When outside of the “C2” exit, there is a paved pathway that is wider than 36” to get to the benches that are in the grass just off the paved pathway; the benches have seating surfaces that are 16” above the grass and are 10” deep

There is also a garden on the outside of the gymnasium that could serve as a good quiet space if needed - the exit door in the gymnasium is a single door but has the same characteristics as each of the doors at the “C2” exit, however there is a 5-6” curb right outside of the exit door - the accessible pathway would be a little longer and would require traveling towards the main entrance to the closest curb ramp and then turning around; the closest curb ramp has similar characteristics as the one used for the main entrance

The garden mainly has a ground surface of mulch and grass, there are several pathways less than 36” wide and several vertical changes in level as there are stones in the pathway, there are raised flower beds but most are below 15” above the ground, and there are some inaccessible picnic tables in the grass beyond the garden area

There are not high ceilings in the clinic area, but there are in the gymnasium and cafeteria where the acoustics are a little worse than the clinic rooms, and the sound level is usually low unless there is an event or clinic such as a Covid vaccination clinic, when the gymnasium or cafeteria are most often used

There are trash cans that require using foot pedals in the patient room

There are not digital and/or braille alternatives for all print content

Except for certain Covid events, there is not a way to check-in or pay through a website/mobile application

Interpreters can be provided for clients upon request

There is a single-use bathroom near the clinic rooms labeled as accessible and unisex with color-contrasted signage that has braille and tactile characters

The bathroom near the clinic has a door that is about 33” wide when completely opened, has accessible door handles and a lock at accessible heights, is not difficult to open force-wise, and has appropriate maneuvering clearances on both sides

On the clinic bathroom door, there is a “Vacant”/“Occupied” velcro stick-on that clients are expected to use when using the bathroom: this is 56.5-59” above floor, which may be considered difficult to reach

Inside the clinic bathroom, the manual light switch is at 50” above the floor, there is a wall-mounted toilet with the toilet seat an accessible height above the floor, there is turning space for clients using wheelchairs, and there are 2 horizontal grab bars around the toilet that are approximately in the appropriate positions

In the clinic bathroom, there is a sink with sink controls at an accessible height above the floor (although there is an eye washer attached to the faucet that might be slightly difficult to reach past), the piping underneath the sink is insulated and there is space underneath to approach the sink, the soap and hand sanitizer dispensers are at accessible heights above the floor, but the outlet, mirror above the sink, push button control for the paper towel dispenser, and the centerline of the toilet paper dispenser are at inaccessible heights/reach ranges

Across the hall from the “Music” room, there are two multi-stall bathrooms, one labeled as accessible and “Girls” and the other labeled as accessible and “Boys”, both have signs on and next to their doors that are color-contrasted and have braille as well as tactile characters/symbols

Both of the doors to the multi-stall bathrooms have accessible door handles, are almost always propped open, and have a clear width of about 32-33” when fully open

There is turning space for clients using wheelchairs in both of the multi-stall bathrooms, but the pathway to the wheelchair accessible stall in the “Girls” bathroom is only about 27.5” wide when going past the stall doors as they are not self-closing, however these stall doors can be closed as you pass by them, making the pathway greater than 36” wide

Light switches and push button controls for the paper towel dispensers in the multi-stall bathrooms could be considered difficult to reach, but the soap dispensers, hand sanitizer dispensers, and mirrors are at accessible heights above the floor

There are two sinks in each of the multi-stall bathrooms, where one of them is accessible and has the pipes underneath insulated, but the shorter sink does not have its pipes insulated underneath

The urinal in the “Boys” bathroom is at an accessible height above the floor

There are wheelchair accessible stalls in both of the multi-stall bathrooms that have accessible doors and locks, except that the wheelchair accessible stall in the “Girls” bathroom is not self-closing and does not have a handle on the inside of the door, only 2 locks

There are locks at accessible heights in each of the wheelchair accessible stalls that are not functioning exactly correct, and there is a hook on the back of the stall door in the “Boys” bathroom that is at an accessible height above the floor

Inside both of the wheelchair accessible stalls, there are grab bars in the appropriate positions (2 in the “Girls” bathroom stall, 3 in the “Boys”), the toilets are wall-hung and have toilet seats at accessible heights, the toilet paper dispensers are at accessible distances from the fronts of the toilets, and there is turning space inside each of the stalls for visitors using wheelchairs

There is an adjustable-height patient table in the clinic

There is 1 wheelchair, 1 pair of crutches, and 2 walkers in the building

There is a hook at an accessible height on the back of the wheelchair accessible stall door in the “Boys” bathroom

There are syringe disposal units in the clinic, but not in the bathrooms

Bottle/canned water, juice, and/or finger snacks may be available during certain clinics or events, and if they are then staff members will bring them to you

Employees are going through or have gone through a disability etiquette training to differentiate their customer service

There is a system for staff members to get interpreters upon request

There are outlets available at accessible heights in the location, but none of them have coverings on them