Street Medicine

Providing healthcare on the street

Our program provides street-based outreach, engagement and care for unsheltered people experiencing homelessness. We aim to reduce the number of harmful events, such as fatal overdose and infectious diseases, by bringing health services to people who have a hard time accessing healthcare.

What we do

Street Medicine staff engages patient by offering haircut

Engage

  • We know that unhoused people may have had bad experiences with the medical system. To address this, we take time to develop relationships and earn their trust. 
  • We provide patient-centered care by listening to the needs of the people we serve.
  • We outreach with partner teams to form a web of support for the most vulnerable unhoused residents.
  • We hold weekly clinics in places like harm reduction sites and drop-in centers.
  • We link our patients with the Maria X. Martinez Health Resource Center, which has a no appointment model.
Street Medicine nurse provides wound care to a patient on the street

Care

  • Urgent care for issues like wounds
  • Transitional primary care for preventative health care or chronic conditions 
  • Testing and treatment for STIs, HIV, Hepatitis C, and COVID
  • Psychiatric care for people with severe mental illness or other mental health issues
  • Overdose follow-up and linkage to harm reduction services, substance use treatment and medication for addiction treatment, including low-threshold buprenorphine
  • Low-threshold palliative care for patients with life threatening conditions who are unable or need support to access traditional palliative/ hospice care
Street Medicine Nurse visits a patient who recently moved into supportive housing

Linkage

  • While working with Street Medicine, patients may be linked to substance use treatment, mental health services, case management or other community services to help them reach their goals.
  • People who need extra support to thrive in community may be linked to programs like intensive case management (ICM) or in-home support services (IHSS).
  • Once patients reach a certain level of stability, we support them in graduating from our services to traditional primary care.

Care

In this video

Dr. Barry Zevin leads the Street Medicine team and has treated patients experiencing homelessness for more than 25 years. He talks about the work of his team. 

Engage

In this video

Shannon Ducharme is a health worker on the Street Medicine Team and talks about engaging with people on the street

Linkage

In this video

Leah Warner is a nurse practitioner on the Street Medicine team and talks about transitioning clients to primary care

San Francisco government partners

Community Health Equity and Promotion (CHEP)

We integrate the core public health functions of informing, engaging, educating and empowering community.
Healthy Streets Operation Center (HSOC)

A collaborative of 11+ City agencies working together to address large encampments and protect health & safety for all
Maria X Martinez Health Resource Center

Offering low-barrier urgent care and primary care services for people experiencing homelessness.
SF Fire Dept Community Paramedicine (EMS-6, SORT, SCRT, SWRT)

SF Fire runs inter-agency teams to improve care for vulnerable populations being routed to emergency services
SF Homeless Outreach Team (SF HOT)

Engaging & connecting the most vulnerable to shelter, housing + other resources with a goal of stabilizing them
SoMa RISE (Recover, Initiate, Support, Engage)

SoMa RISE is a pilot project of SF Public Health and HealthRIGHT 360 serving the SoMa and Tenderloin communities.
Street Crisis Response team (Click here for dashboards)

A mobile team operating 24/7 that can check on wellness and refer clients to appropriate help.
Street Care San Francisco

The goal of the neighborhood-based street care program is to link people to immediate behavioral health care and shelter.

Downloadable resources

Community Partners

About

Leadership

  • Medical Director: Dr. Barry Zevin
  • Nurse Manager: Joel Parker

Types of patient engagement we provide

  1. Neighborhood Outreach 
  2. Referrals & Focused Outreach 
  3. Offsite Clinics
  4. Health fairs

Departments

Department of Public Health
Homelessness and Supportive Housing

Related

Maria X Martinez Health Resource Center
Shelter Health