
Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program receives HHS funding and has Federal PHS deemed status with respect to certain health or health-related claims, including medical malpractice claims, for itself and its covered individuals.
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Every day of homelessness presents competing priorities, from accessing food to finding a safe place to sleep at night. Scheduling a routine health exam is often one of the last things on people’s minds, and distrust of the health system and of medical providers is pervasive. Primary care is one of the first to slip through the cracks, and health and wellbeing suffers in the long-term—from weakening vision to chronic diseases that, if left untreated, can turn deadly.
In this context, BHCHP provides primary care that is fully integrated, connecting patients with a case manager and a range of health services, from flu shots to HIV treatment. We offer primary care at 35+ locations across Greater Boston, including at our main site, Jean Yawkey Place, at shelters, and on the street. Our goal is to connect patients with care before their conditions worsen, helping them stay healthy and out of emergency rooms.
Our providers are culturally competent in caring for a diverse patient population, including but not limited to members of LGBTQ+ community, people with immigrant and refugee backgrounds, children and young adults facing homelessness, and more.
BHCHP clinicians provide primary care in traditional and non-traditional spaces, meeting patients where they already are—whether that is in a shelter, on the street, under a bridge, or at a scheduled or walk-in appointment at our Jean Yawkey Place clinic. Our care providers emphasize respect and flexibility, building trust with patients over the long-term, and run health fairs at shelters around the city to offer screenings and connections to further care. And their work is supported by case managers, who offer patients connections to city and state social services as well as BHCHP-provided social support, such as transportation vouchers. All of these approaches minimize the obstacles patients face in seeking care, from money to mistrust, and help ensure care is accessible within the unique constraints of homelessness.
Since 1985, BHCHP has provided primary care to thousands of people experiencing homelessness. That care includes everything from early childhood vaccinations to COVID-19 boosters, eye exams to screening, treatment, and management of chronic diseases like diabetes and asthma. We cover the costs—of care, case management, and medications provided at our in-house pharmacy—that insurance doesn’t. And we partner with patients over the short- or long-term to provide counseling and education around their health needs, working to ensure they have the knowledge and resources to manage their health independently.
We also connect many patients with case managers, who help coordinate primary care across clinical departments and develop a plan best suited to their needs–a patient-centered approach that is critical given that we often don’t know where our patients will sleep or when we may see them next.
Our approach to primary care has served as a model for public health departments, shelters, and clinics nationwide, including how we mobilized our services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the virus threatened our uniquely vulnerable patients, we launched a comprehensive response that included operating 500 beds at the Boston Hope field hospital, transforming a floor of Barbara McInnis House into a 52-bed COVID-19 unit, and administering thousands of vaccines. We also trained patients to become vaccine ambassadors and communicated health information across languages and cultures.
Our work became a model that others sought to replicate. We advised peer organizations on infection control, testing, and treatment throughout the first years of the pandemic. And we published research on the intersections between COVID-19 and ongoing health issues, from mental health to gender-affirming care to substance use disorders, in medical journals including New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet Public Health.
“There is a lot of progress–and that is what keeps me going. I had a patient with Type 1 diabetes with no belief in his ability to manage the condition. After six months, he was telling me how much insulin he needed.”
Laura Curry, Physician Assistant, BHCHP Chronic Disease Management Team
The best way to make an appointment is to call us at 857-654-1605.
This phone line is answered Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm.
Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program receives HHS funding and has Federal PHS deemed status with respect to certain health or health-related claims, including medical malpractice claims, for itself and its covered individuals.