A new volunteer-run health clinic launching this weekend at Hope Haven aims to remove barriers to medical care for people experiencing homelessness by providing basic health services in a place they already trust.
Operating every Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the clinic called ‘Hope to Health’ will offer health assessments, wound care, and other basic medical services through volunteer nurses and a nurse practitioner.
Hope Haven general manager Loree Bailey said staff regularly see clients arrive with untreated wounds, chronic illnesses, and other health concerns but face obstacles accessing traditional healthcare.
“We see people every day that are coming in and they have healthcare needs that are very obvious,” Bailey said.
“They have wounds, they have other conditions. They just need a general health assessment. They’re just maybe just generally physically unwell and they have barriers.”
Those barriers include long emergency room waits, not having a family doctor or even lacking a valid health card.