It’s as simple, they said, as treating everyone with kindness and without judgement. Its success can be traced to the team’s ability to earn the trust of its patients. When it launched, CalOptima gave Healthcare in Action – it’s part of the SCAN Group and provides health care and other services to unhoused individuals – a goal of signing up 200 patients in 18 months.Īfter just five months on the road, the street medical team has enrolled nearly 100 participants who are receiving services such as health care, behavioral health support, substance use treatment and case management, including help with replacing birth certificates and identifications, all necessary to access many services. A peer navigator and mental health specialist dropped everything they were doing to stay behind with her and ensure she got to her next destination. The woman, who asked not to be interviewed, made the decision that day to go to a rehabilitation center, a promising step toward getting her off the street, the team said. Other patients that day were a couple who are heavy fentanyl users. I’m 63 and I’m tired of living out here on the streets. “Next month, I’m going to detox, for 10 days. “These people will give you a hand up.”Īnd he said he’s ready to take it. I’m trying to pull my head out of my derriere,” Vincent said. Twice a week, the street medicine team also stops at the First Presbyterian Church of Garden Grove, where church staff open the space for people to shower, have a light meal and get connected to resources.ĭuring this stop, they met with Richard Vincent, who has been homeless on and off for the last eight years. The traveling medical team includes a physician assistant and a registered nurse, who provide primary care and clinical management, a mental health specialist and peer navigators, who can connect folks with supportive services and community resources. I’d kind of be like, ‘What do you guys really want? Are you guys spies for somebody?’”Īnd that’s the whole point, bringing care to those most unlikely to access traditional sources. “It just took me a little while to get used to everybody. They’re very outgoing, personable,” Schwab said. I don’t like to go to the doctor most of the time. Schwab laughed looking back at those initial days meeting the team. “It makes it really nice to have them here, like a breath of fresh air.” I’ve never seen any of them get upset with anybody,” Schwab said of how important that was in earning her trust. “They actually do pay attention to you when you’re talking to them. Getting medical care, Schwab said, would be nearly impossible without this program. “These guys are a blessing,” Spillman said, “because they don’t just help with medical stuff.” Organized by CalOptima Health, in partnership with the city of Garden Grove and Healthcare in Action, the street medicine team Coye travels with is there to not just check vitals and that medications are working, its members are also equipped to help with a number of social services.Īnd they are a caring face in a day of harsh realities. “If we were more stable with housing, then it would be easier because we can plan things.” “It’s really cool that they do this because getting to our doctor appointments, it would never happen,” Spillman said. During one of the first appointments on a recent day, registered nurse Nicole Coye hopped from the van she drives the streets, tending to folks, and was quickly engulfed in a hug by her next patient, Carrie Firestein.įirestein, who has been homeless for more than eight years, and her partner Joel Spillman, who has been homeless for more than three years, say the “doctors office on wheels” has been a blessing for them.
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