BHCHP at Anne’s side for respite and healing

“I Get the Best Care Here at McInnis House.”

Anne knows better than anyone how homelessness can wreak havoc on your feet. The hours of daytime walking, waiting for the shelters to reopen for the evening. The inability to change into dry socks and shoes when it rains or snows. Ill-fitting footwear cutting into your feet.

Anne had been staying at a local shelter when her right foot became extremely painful. She tried to ignore it for months, then decided to visit our BHCHP clinic within the shelter. During the examination, our nurse saw how tender it was and immediately urged Anne to go to our closest hospital partner Boston Medical Center (BMC) for evaluation. BMC diagnosed an infection so severe it had penetrated the bone. Unfortunately, her right big toe had to be amputated.

Days after her surgery, Anne needed to recuperate and it was clear she couldn’t be discharged to a shelter, so she was admitted to our Barbara McInnis House, BHCHP’s 24/7 medical respite facility located at 780 Albany Street. She is one of the more than 1,100 patients cared for each year at the McInnis House. Some of our respite patients, like Anne, need a place to recuperate after surgery. Others require care for chronic diseases that are ravaging their bodies. Some come for compassionate and respectful palliative care when they have nowhere else to go at the end-of-life.

When her foot was finally healed, Anne was discharged from the McInnis House to a Boston shelter, but soon after received some heartbreaking news — a diagnosis of breast cancer, requiring immediate radiation treatments. Later, her left foot became severely infected requiring more surgery. The staff at the McInnis House has been there for Anne in her recovery from all three serious health setbacks. Liz Fehrenbach, NP cared for Anne — “We saw Anne daily to assess her wounds and provide comprehensive wound care. As patients’ wounds progress or heal, this level of care allows us to fine-tune our plans for wound care in the moment, ultimately resulting in better outcomes for patients.”

And Anne has all praise for her BHCHP caregivers, “My entire care team — the nurses, the doctors, the Northeastern co-op students who clean my foot and redo my bandages — they’re all wonderful,” Anne said during her stay, her left foot in a boot. “I get the best care here at McInnis House. Boston Medical Center (BMC) and the Barbara McInnis House are the two best health facilities I’ve ever been to.”

As a respite nurse practitioner, Liz is grateful for the student interns who assist in respite, “Our patients really benefit from the presence of student interns. This partnership allows students, who typically have a pre-med or nursing focus, to assist in care, like wound care, in partnership with respite providers and nurses. The students learn important clinical skills that they can carry into their future work, and patients universally enjoy the students’ warmth and attentiveness. Meanwhile, providers and nurses benefit from the additional clinical support on the floor to provide an even higher level of wound care than we might otherwise be able to provide with this volume of patients.”

Anne especially loves the sense of community at the McInnis House which she says greatly contributes to the therapeutic recovery. Everyone from the nurses to the security staff are always ready to engage with patients. “They’re really pleasant and personable,” she says.

The continuity of care that we provide our patients from the streets — to our shelter clinics — to the hospital — to the McInnis House respite program is critical to their well-being. Anne is one of the thousands of patients each year whom we care for, providing high quality, trauma-informed health care across our 30+ locations and on the streets.

Your generosity enables us to provide dignified, highly-skilled integrated care for Anne and the more than 10,000 adults and children experiencing the trauma of homelessness in our care. Please consider giving to Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program today.

We are sincerely grateful for your steadfast support and belief in our mission.