Venice Family Clinic launches mobile clinic van aimed at preventing homelessness
By Chad Winthrop
A Westside non-profit has launched a ‘doctor’s office on wheels’ for individuals experiencing homelessness and those at risk of losing their homes.
On January 18, Venice Family Clinic announced a mobile clinic van for homeless families and individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing their homes.
“Until now, Venice Family Clinic’s nine street medicine teams, which work in partnership with homeless service providers to get people housed, relied on backpacks filled with medical supplies and equipment to provide on-site care to people experiencing homelessness. With a generous donation from The Barry and Wendy Meyer Foundation, the street medicine teams will have a clinic on wheels that brings the privacy of a medical office to their patients,” the clinic–which serves serves 27,00 people in the LA-area–said in a press release.
In addition, Venice Family Clinic will use the van to partner with local agencies that serve parents and their children who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness. The allows for more extensive on-site health care services, including drawing blood and obtaining other samples for tests. They will also be able to provide vaccines, rapid HIV and Hepatitis C testing on-scene as well as medically assisted drug and alcohol treatments.
“With the mobile clinic van, we can bring our comprehensive model of care to more people in need at our partners’ shelters, transitional living programs and access centers,” said Coley M. King, DO, director of homeless services. “We will be able to treat a wider range of medical needs immediately and in the field, saving some patients a visit at the Clinic, and they will have the safety and dignity of meeting with us privately.”
