“At Clinica we are proud that we are going to take on sensitive communities and serve them with our mission of compassion… They deserve care just as much as anyone else,” says Mary MacAdam
Archbishop Oscar Romero always advocated for the poor and the needy, and the clinic that bears his name continues that legacy today by not only providing health services to patients of all types in their six branches throughout Los Angeles, but also taking their caregiving to the streets.
Thanks to grants from L.A. Care and North East Valley Health Care Center, three or four times a week, a team from the clinic heads out to care for the unhoused.
“At Clinica we are proud that we are going to take on sensitive communities and serve them with our mission of compassion.
“They deserve care just as much as anyone else,” says Mary MacAdam, Homeless Services Program Manager at Clinica Romero for the past year.
MacAdam, who has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from USC, has been working with the homeless for the past five years. She previously worked for the City of Los Angeles, the Bridge to Home shelter, and North Valley Caring Services.
“Poverty and homelessness doesn’t discriminate,” says MacAdam, who was inspired to work with this vulnerable population from her own family experience during the past recession.
Her experience matches perfectly the work that the Clinic began last year in trying to reach those who may not always come to their door.
According to Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Homeless Count, last year there were an estimated 75,312 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, 45, 252 of them in the city of Los Angeles.
Reaching all of them is virtually impossible, but the clinic staff does its part in trying to improve their lives.
MacAdam calls it a “blend of getting boots on the ground to provide care and show love to people who are often ignored.”
The “Street Medicine” program began six months doing four to five events a month, but it’s now an outreach effort that takes place several times a week.
Teams composed of a doctor or physician assistant, nurses, and care coordinators visit tiny home villages, shelters, and homeless encampments to treat wounds, infections, distribute hygiene products, offer referrals to food pantries, and help with housing placements. Sometimes, members of the clinic’s dental team also join the group to offer their services.
“We’ll see patients and ask them if they are on food stamps, if they’re enrolled in Medi-Cal, which clinic they see or if they want to switch to us,” MacAdam explains.
The idea is to offer them a holistic approach so they can be connected to all of the clinic services.
It’s also about taking medicine directly to those who may not always look for it or know how to access it.
MacAdam explains that sometimes it takes several tries before a homeless person trusts them and accepts the help, so they are never aggressive or strong in their approach.
“It’s about building trust,” she notes.
SUCCESS STORIES
Once trust has been established progress can begin to happen.
Last year, the Clinic’s Street Medicine teams recorded more than 11,000 medical encounters, saw 2,237 new patients and housed over 20 people (10 so far this year).
There are many success stories: the patient they encountered who couldn’t walk and needed
physical therapy rehabilitation and is now in a shelter; a family with a young daughter who are now in a permanent apartment and the girl is enrolled in school again; a long-time Clínica Romero patient in her 70s who became homeless when a new agency bought the apartment complex where she worked and lived and is now off the streets.
“Not everyone is a stereotype of drug abuse and things like that,” MacAdam says.
The “working homeless”—those who work but don’t make enough to pay the sky-high rents—is something she sees all the time.
“When we go to Access Centers (locations where the homeless can gain initial access to or continued housing and supportive services), I see lines of 40-50 people who are day laborers but wait to get breakfast,” she adds. “These are people who work hard but can’t pay rent.”
Then there are the undocumented elderly who don’t get Social Security and don’t have family who can support them.
The Clinic helps everyone, regardless of immigration status.
COMPASSION AND CARE
The team attends to basic medical needs like wound care from substance abuse, diabetes, infections people may get from not having access to antibiotics and sleeping in unsanitary conditions.
If the person needs more specialty care and ongoing care, they try to get them to come to one of the Clinic branches or refer them to a hospital where they can be helped.
The most important thing, MacAdam says, is consistency.
“It’s about making sure we follow up and don’t promise things we can not do,” she says, aware that this is a population that lacks that consistent care.
They also lack emotional care.
“A lot of our patients are very lonely and need compassion,” she says “At Clinica we acknowledge people instead of being just a number. We do not ignore them
“We can show compassion and love to these people like they haven’t seen before.”
“I want people to feel seen and noticed, and show them how valuable they are in the community,” she adds.
“If we’re able to hold someone’s hand and be a consistent kind of companion, we’ll have a higher rate of success.”
Having a leadership in the Clínica that spouses those goals and believes in the same mission is what makes a difference, MacAdam says. For instance, she knows that if they need to pay for a motel room for a patient who has suffered domestic violence, her request won’t be rejected.
It’s also what makes her job so rewarding, she says.
Her satisfaction is seeing the patients’ spirit and health improve. Seeing someone with a bed sore or unable to walk even to the bathroom, who regains his independence and even comes to volunteer at the Clínica.
But it all starts with a little bit of care, attention, and compassion.
“We are trying to show a new sense of radical humility and love to these patients,” she says.
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Clinica Romero
(323) 987-1034
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