Overview
Each year, millions of people in the United States experience homelessness and are in desperate need of health care services. Most do not have health insurance or cash to pay for medical care.
Finding health care is tough or impossible. Many people who are homeless are more concerned with meeting immediate needs for shelter, food, clothing, and safety than with seeking health care. For some, the symptoms of their illnesses or bad experiences with the health care system in their past cause them to actually avoid health care.
Unacceptable costs result from poor access to health care. Because homeless people often are uninsured and lack access to low-cost preventive health care, they go without care until relatively minor problems become urgent medical emergencies. Ultimately, most homeless people do get treated, but it is treatment of the most expensive sort, delivered in hospital emergency rooms and acute care wards.
Source: www.nhchc.org
The Special Populations Coordinator (SPC) supports activities and health services for member Migrant and Community Health Centers across the state serving the Homeless community.
Staff:
Rosa Navarro, MA, Special Populations Coordinator, 919-297-0014.