Desert Healthcare District to Fund Walk-in Clinic in North End of Palm Springs

From Desert Healthcare District:

The west end of the Coachella Valley will now have a new walk-in health clinic with dedicated staff to serve the homeless population and under-served in the north-end of Palm Springs thanks to support from Desert Healthcare District.

District funds will be used for the free clinic’s initial set up costs, including equipment. The clinic will serve as the medical home of the UCR School of Medicine Street Medicine Program initiated in late 2015 by the primary care residents of UCR School of Medicine Family Practice Program. It will be established within the First Baptist Church, 588 W. Rosa Parks Rd., Palm Springs in partnership with The Well in the Desert on an in-kind basis.

The Well in the Desert will offer transportation to and from a local park, providing patients without a home a means to reach the clinic. The Desert Highland Gateway community is an underserved neighborhood that will also greatly benefit from services provided by the free clinic.

Initially, the clinic will be open twice a month, with the hours of operation coinciding with the free meals and transportation provided by The Well in the Desert. As demand for services increase, hours of operation will be expanded to include evenings and weekends.

All medical care will be provided by volunteer healthcare providers, including UC Riverside School of Medicine faculty and residents, community physicians, nurses and medical assistants. Serving as medical director will be Dr. Tae Kim, the medical director of the UCR Health Medical Group and clinical professor of family medicine in the UCR School of Medicine.

The new UCR free clinic will provide high quality primary and follow-up care to the vulnerable populations of the local community. The ultimate goal is to improve health outcomes in these groups throughout the Coachella Valley. The District-funded clinic is an expansion of the Street Medicine Program which has provided free, biweekly medical services to the homeless and underserved populations in Palm Springs, also supported by the Healthcare District.

“Thanks to the Healthcare District, we are able to distribute over 400 care packages to homeless populations during our initial roll out of the Street Medicine program in Palm Springs,” stated Dr. Tae Kim. “In seeing patients as a part of that program, our primary care medical residents were frustrated not being able to monitor and follow up patients, as this population typically has no primary care provider or medical home. The walk-in clinic will provide that medical home as well as a consistent location to access preventive care, flu shots and needed medicines.”

The walk-in clinic is open to anyone regardless of ability to pay.

Studies have shown homeless individuals overuse emergency department services due to a variety of barriers to primary care, including, but not limited to: lack of insurance, inability to travel to doctor appointments, mistrust of medical professionals (strangers) and prioritization of other basic human needs (i.e., food) over self-health. Of the patients treated through the Street Medicine Program, over 60 percent did not have a primary care physician of record, and the majority of this population uses the Desert Regional Emergency Room as their first line of health care.

Establishing a free street medicine clinic will not only offer preventative care and build trusting relationships between the homeless/underserved populations and medical professionals, but also save total healthcare dollars by decreasing the number of emergency room visits and hospital admissions by the homeless and others. The free clinic will be available to all age groups from pediatrics to geriatrics and will also provide outpatient procedures, such as laceration repair, toenail removals, etc.

“The walk-in clinic run by volunteer residents and physicians will allow us to serve those without access to traditional medical clinics, provide preventative care, reduce Emergency Room misuse and expand our services to vulnerable populations,” Dr. Kim said.

“The Desert Healthcare District is committed to expanding access to primary care throughout the District,” said Dr. Grimm. “We are thrilled to have been the first organization to step up with support to make the UCR School of Medicine possible. And even more pleased to provide support to expand access to serve those without access to traditional medical clinics, reduce Emergency Room misuse and expand services to health care procedures that otherwise could not be provided.”

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