Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program

Have you spotted one of our recruitment ads on the Orange or Red Lines? We want to make sure our message is loud and clear – we are currently hiring for various clinical and non-clinical positions across the program! If you want to join a mission-driven organization that provides excellent employee benefits and cultivates a strong sense of community at work, this is the place for you. For nearly four decades, we’ve been at the forefront of caring for Boston’s unhoused community and we can’t do this work without our dedicated staff members. Join the BHCHP family and help us ensure equitable access to dignity, hope, compassion, and care for individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Boston. Currently, we’re offering a $4000 sign-on bonus for the following roles: RN, LPN, NP, PA and Behavioral Health Clinicians. Please help us spread the word about recruitment with your own family and friends. Browse open positions and click here to submit your application! https://lnkd.in/eSdmEWfx

Starting today, the City of Boston has declared a heat emergency for the next three days. For people experiencing homelessness, hot weather poses an extreme threat to their survival and wellbeing, especially since they are exposed to the elements without proper cooling and their ongoing health conditions make it harder for their bodies to regulate their temperatures. If you’ve ever wondered what you can do to help someone in need during these times, we highly recommend that you check out the City’s website for guidance and information. https://bit.ly/3WlQH0C Read this article from The Associated Press with important contributions from Dave Munson, medical director of the BHCHP Street Team. Every little bit of help matters and we hope you’ll keep our patients in your hearts as we all go through this period of heat emergency. https://bit.ly/4d4VxFj

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our 16 AmeriCorps fellows who served with BHCHP from September 2023 till now. They were placed throughout the program at various sites and offered significant contributions to help us deliver equitable and dignified health care to individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Boston. As they venture onto their next steps, be it further studies or work, we wish them the best of luck and look forward to hearing about their accomplishments as future health equity leaders. Curious to know more about what it’s like to serve with BHCHP? Check out this blogpost with reflection notes from five outgoing fellows. https://bit.ly/4ctEDQE

Say hi to Walter, a BHCHP patient who has been visiting our foot care clinic located inside St. Francis House for the last two years. Maintaining proper foot hygiene is essential for people experiencing homelessness and a clean pair of socks can do wonders for their foot and overall health. Join us for the 18th annual Sox for Socks campaign at Fenway Park this August 9-11 where BHCHP will be collecting donations of new, white socks for our patients. Your donated socks will then be distributed throughout our program sites, helping countless individuals and families who are dealing with the various challenges brought by homelessness. To learn more about the sock drive campaign, click here. https://bit.ly/4bOpU2q

With the summer months underway, we are sharing this important infographic from the City of Boston available in multiple languages on the City’s website. Summer heat can pose high risks and dangers for unhoused people – please do not hesitate to call for help when you see someone on the streets in need of medical attention. We hope you all stay cool, hydrated and safe while enjoying the weeks and months ahead. Happy Summer from BHCHP!! 🌻

Many congratulations to our Dr. Katie Koh for receiving the Outstanding Psychiatrist Award for an Early Career Psychiatrist by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society! Dr. Koh is part of the BHCHP Street Team and provides psychiatry services to our patients who primarily live on the streets, be it in parks, under bridges and elsewhere. She also sees her patients in our clinic located at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of our main hospital partners. Additionally, Dr. Koh is very much involved in various research, advocacy and teaching engagements. If you want to read more about the Street Team, check out this relevant article from a year ago. https://bit.ly/4bCDcOt

From all of us at BHCHP, we wish you a happy and healthy 4th of July - we hope that you’re enjoying today’s festivities with your family and friends. Our sincere gratitude to all staff working this holiday and caring for our patients. Thank you!!

Last week, BHCHP’s integrated health care of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness was featured on WCVB Channel 5. Two of our AmeriCorps fellows Manuela Arroyave and Mara Quinn, alongside Dr. Aura Obando, medical director of our Family Team, shared how we support the health and social needs of young people who are newly arrived and unhoused in Boston. We hope you have a chance to watch this and learn more about the ways in which we help co-create a sense of home and community for newly arrived migrants experiencing homelessness in Boston. Thank you so much to reporter Erika Tarantal for spotlighting this important story! https://bit.ly/3XIwFPc

Check out this very important piece in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM Group) on street medicine co-authored by Dr. Dave Munson, medical director of BHCHP’s Street Team. To read, visit nejm.org

Did you know that for many years Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program has welcomed countless visitors from across the country and the globe to learn from our best practices and unique model of care? Our most recent international visitors were 29 fellows from The Equity Initiative of Southeast Asia and China. They received a tour of our primary care, respite care, dental clinic, pharmacy and recovery services at our main facility at 780 Albany Street. The fellows also participated in a panel discussion and learning session with BHCHP senior leadership and staff. They expressed interest in bringing back our best practices to their home countries to care for their underserved populations, specifically around our family team, gender care, harm reduction and behavioral health services, along with our patient advocacy, staff trauma counseling, and more. We’re grateful to these fellows for their interest in delivering the best care to their own underserved population, and are happy to share our 40 years of experience and deep expertise in this work.