‘The Cost of Street Medicine is Miniscule for the Impact it Has’

By: Ed Neuhaus

Street medicine teams across UPMC are committed to meeting people where they are, by delivering world-class health care to those experiencing homelessness. “Our system of making people come to us excludes the people who need it the most,” said Anna Marie White, MD, FACP, FAAP, clinician, UPMC, medical director, Street Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. “We meet people in their own reality.”

Street medicine means that medical care is delivered directly to those living on the street. This kind of care can include things as simple as providing food and socks to those in need, to helping with more complex medical concerns.

“Our job as street medicine providers isn’t to just take care of people or put band-aids on wounds on a day-to-day basis, it’s to build a long-lasting trusting relationship,” said Max B. Hurwitz, DO, clinician, UPMC, assistant medical director, Street Medicine, University of Pittsburgh.

Read more about the teams bringing life-changing care to our communities in the January issue of First Friday.