Eduardo Rodríguez Conde attended the mobile clinic of the UCLA Health street medicine program that is set up every Tuesday at the Depaul USA-Casa Milagrosa on the south side of Alvarado Street in the city of Los Angeles.
“This time I came to get my eye checked because I have a growth on it, to see if they can give me some drops or something to relieve it,” says Eduardo, a 60-year-old Mexican immigrant who is part of the homeless population of Los Angeles.
Street medicine is a model for providing health care to the homeless population and connecting them with social services, including housing, which is covered by the MediCal program.
In November 2022, the California Department of Health Care Services released guidance to make it easier for all MediCal plans to establish, maintain, and maximize street medicine programs.
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“We’ve been doing this street medicine program for homeless people for two and a half years, and we’ve seen that once they have that access, most patients no longer go to the emergency room,” says Iliana Ramirez, manager and social worker at the Homeless Health Care Collaborative at UCLA.
He says they go out every day in their vehicle to the San Fernando Valley, South Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, and Westlake.
“We help patients connect with clinics so they have their primary care doctor; and we teach them how to make appointments so they don’t have to be afraid to get the treatment they need.”
She adds that when they are on the streets trying to survive day to day, homeless people feel overwhelmed and do not have the ability to decide to go to a clinic.
“With our street medicine program, we reach the person, the patient, directly,”
He points out that in the van they have a whole mobile clinic with medicines that do not require a prescription.
“We can do blood tests, treat wounds and infections, bring water and food to give them, as well as shoes, shirts, pants and shorts.”
Ethnic Media Services, along with the Department of Health Care Services and the Homeless Healthcare Collaborative at UCLA, invited ethnic media outlets in Los Angeles to tour Depaul USA Casa Milagros to learn firsthand how the street medicine program operates.
Homeless people are treated at the Miracle House in Los Angeles as part of UCLA’s street medicine program. Credit: Araceli Martinez Ortega | Impremedia
Brian P. Zunner Keatin, director of UCLA’s street medicine program for the homeless, explains that the Homeless Health Care Collaborative began at UCLA Health with the mission of bringing high-quality care to the streets and to people in Los Angeles who often lack access, primarily those experiencing homelessness or significant housing insecurity.
“Each team consists of a minimum of one nurse, one physician or nurse practitioner, one physician assistant and one community health worker covering a wide range of primary and emergency medical services.”
He explains that the way to reach the homeless population is to go to resource centers like Casa Milagrosa, to temporary housing sites, to small house shelters, to camps and to alleys.
“We don’t force people to do anything. When they hesitate to go to a place or a centre, we usually try to understand what they are going through, and their experiences that make them afraid.
“Very often, people don’t want to go to the doctor because, in the past, when they have gone to an appointment, they have lost all their belongings in their tents.”
DePaul USA Casa Milagrosa offers food and access to healthcare through UCLA’s street medicine program. Credit: Araceli Martínez Ortega | Impremedia
So he says homeless people can’t bear the thought of their things being stolen or vandalized, and a lot of people also have pets that are family, and leaving them is also a big fear.
“So we try to understand what some of the reasons are that they are afraid to leave their place of stay or go to their doctor’s appointment, and then we work on an individual basis to help find solutions.”
Reveals that they have recently expanded their mental health services.
“We have two full-time social workers along with one of our managers, Ileana, who is also a social worker. And we now have two part-time psychiatrists to complement our services; and Casa Milagrosa is one of our long-standing community partners.”
He says the expansion of MediCal has allowed his program to find ways to continue providing services.
“We started out primarily with philanthropy, and with the recent expansion of MediCal, we are now able to bill for our screening medicine services, something that has never been done before.”
At the DePaul USA Casa Milagrosa, attendees have access to UCLA’s street medicine program. Credit: Araceli Martínez | Impremedia
This, he says, has allowed them to connect the homeless population with primary and specialized care, and offer them transportation to the places where they receive it.
“That was something that historically hadn’t been available, and now it’s not only possible, but it gives our program the funding to be able to offer services that are actually reimbursable.”
He says they recently got statistics showing the medical impact the street medicine program has had, and found that homeless people have improved their diabetes, high blood pressure control, and have been helped to stay out of the hospital.
“We are really excited about the expansion of the mental health and social aspects.”
The UCLA Health street medicine team arrives every Tuesday at Miracle House, a nonprofit homeless resource center.
“We provide breakfast every morning from 7:30 to 10:30, thanks to generous donors like Saint Vincent Meals on Wheels, and on Thursdays we provide laundry, showers, haircuts and other services,” says Guillermo Vidaurri, director of Depaul USA-Casa Milagrosa.
She also says that they are offered a computer lab so they can check their unemployment emails, and they started working with the ROPA project that provides them with free clothing once a month.
She notes that the majority of the homeless population they serve is Hispanic, at 70%, and the other 30% is mixed, including African-American, Asian and Native American.
The Miracle House is located at 161 South Alvarado Street in Los Angeles, CA 90057. www.depaulusa.org
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