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
“A member of the Street Medicine team connects with a patient by first offering a 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.
“A 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
“A Street Medicine Nurse Practitioner visits a patient who 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.
San Francisco government partners
Downloadable resources
About
Leadership
- Medical Director: Dr. Barry Zevin
- Nurse Manager: Joel Parker
Our story
Types of patient engagement we provide
- Neighborhood Outreach
- Referrals & Focused Outreach
- Offsite Clinics
- Health fairs