LOS ANGELES — Public agencies and private health insurance companies are partnering to create a system of street doctors and clinics to provide medical care, including routine preventive care, to Los Angeles’ homeless population, officials announced Wednesday. did.
What you need to know Public agencies and private health insurance companies are working together to create a system of street doctors and clinics that provide medical care to Los Angeles’ homeless population.
The goal is to allow homeless residents to see their primary care physician on a long-term, rather than sporadic, basis.
More than 45,000 people, many with severe mental illness, drug addiction, or both, live in trash-strewn encampments in Los Angeles.
Health care providers say they hope to serve as many as 85,000 homeless people
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Samir Amin said the goal is to help homeless residents with under-resourced street medical teams who struggle to schedule follow-up appointments and ensure patients receive their prescriptions. He said the idea is to ensure that patients can see their primary care physician on a long-term basis, rather than sporadically through visits. We are part of LA Care Health Plan, the Los Angeles County agency that provides health insurance to low-income people.
Officials with L.A. Care Health Plan and U.S. health insurance company Health Net said the state would commit $90 million over five years to the effort.
LA County is the most populous county in the United States, with a population of approximately 10 million people. More than 10% of all homeless people in the United States live in the county, according to a 2023 federal count.
In Los Angeles, more than 45,000 people, many of whom suffer from serious mental illness, drug addiction, or both, are living in trash-strewn encampments and rows of rusting RVs across city blocks. I live in a place where there are The rise in homelessness has a knock-on effect on drug overdose deaths, particularly from the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
One of the largest cities in the country, the homeless population of approximately 4 million people is roughly equal to the population of Palm Springs. Providers say they hope to serve as many as 85,000 homeless people.
Of that amount, $60 million will be used to strengthen field health programs across the county, serving residents living in camps, shelters and temporary housing. The remaining funds will strengthen services in Skid Row, a notorious area of downtown Los Angeles that is home to homeless encampments. This includes a new health campus scheduled to open in 2025.
“We have extended hours for specialized care and extended hours for more urgent services,” Amin said.
On Tuesday, a mobile medical team from Wesley Health Center drove through Skid Row, past people stretched out in tents, tarps and blankets. Marie McAfee, director of operations for Wesley Health, said the team provided HIV and STD testing, psychiatric services and referrals to other treatments such as dental and vision care. She said she can see 50 to 100 patients a day.
Norma Terrazas, 46, is grateful the clinic came to her. She had her blood pressure checked.
“This is Skid Row and we need help. We need all the help we can get,” she said. “They make sure that our health is OK, that our bodies are strong and that we can handle whatever comes our way right now.”
Health Net’s Martha Santana Chin said she’s excited about the potential to bring more cardiology, orthopedics and other specialty care to people on Skid Row. Transportation is a significant barrier to care, so plans are underway for a free shuttle to transport patients to the facility.
The funding comes from California’s Housing and Homelessness Incentives Program, of which $1 billion will be withheld from cities and counties in 2022 because Gov. Gavin Newsom says the proposed homelessness reduction plan is overwhelming. he threatened. LA Care is contributing 70% of the funding.
