House Calls to the Homeless: A Doctor Treats Boston’s Most Isolated Patients
As a doctor who provides medical care to Boston’s homeless population, James O’Connell and his colleagues are used to working in unusual locations. “We are basically visiting them in their homes, which are often under bridges, down back alleyways [and] on park benches,” O’Connell tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “It’s been an education for us over these years.”
As a doctor who provides medical care to Boston’s homeless population, James O’Connell and his colleagues are used to working in unusual locations. “We are basically visiting them in their homes, which are often under bridges, down back alleyways [and] on park benches,” O’Connell tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “It’s been an education for us over these years.”
O’Connell is president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, which provides health care services at over 65 sites, including adult and family soup kitchens, detoxification units and corrections facilities. He writes about his practice in a new memoir, Stories from the Shadows: Reflections of a Street Doctor.
