About the Health Care for the Homeless Network
Homelessness inevitably causes serious health problems. Illnesses that are closely associated with poverty - tuberculosis, AIDS, malnutrition, severe dental problems - devastate the homeless population. Health problems that exist quietly at other income levels - alcoholism, mental illnesses, diabetes, hypertension, physical disabilities - are prominent on the streets. Human beings without shelter fall prey to parasites, frostbite, infections and violence.
- National Health Care for the Homeless Council
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The Health Care for the Homeless Network (HCHN) provides health care services for people experiencing homelessness in King County and provides leadership to help change the conditions that deprive our neighbors of home and health.
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The Health Care for the Homeless Network collaborates with twelve community-based partner agencies. These agencies send care providers to work with homeless people in over 60 locations throughout King County. Examples of sites served include shelters, day centers, transitional housing programs, and clinics and outreach programs. Interdisciplinary, interagency HCHN teams provide a broad range of medical, mental health, substance abuse, case management, and health access services for homeless adults, families, and youth. Our work is designed to help meet goals in the community's Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness in King County.
HCHN's services help meet important public health goals by promoting health among a particularly vulnerable population and by helping prevent the spread of disease. In addition to direct patient care, HCHN provides training and consultation services for homeless agencies to assist them in establishing appropriate health and safety protocols designed to protect both staff and clients.
HCHN is part of a national program developed in 1985 through a 19-city demonstration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trust. In 1987, federal support was established for HCHN through the Steward B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. Today, over 180 Health Care for the Homeless projects exist nationwide.
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Health Care for the Homeless Advisory Planning Council |
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The Health Care for the Homeless Network (HCHN) Planning Council provides strategic direction on HCHN programs and budget. The Council is advisory to Public Health - Seattle & King County and the King County Board of Health. The Planning Council membership includes broad representation from the community, including currently and formerly homeless people.
Members:
- Carole Antoncich, Plymouth Housing Group
- Maureen Brown, MD, Swedish Family Practice Residency Program at Downtown Public Health Center
- Letitia Colston, ND MSW, Naturopathic Physician
- TBA -- DSHS representative, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
- Judy Summerfield, City of Seattle Human Services Department
- Sinan Demirel, Elizabeth Gregory Home
- Charissa Fotinos, MD, Medical Director, Public Health - Seattle & King County
- Greg Francis, Community Member
- MJ Kiser, Compass Center
- Edward Dwyer-O'Connor, Pioneer Square Clinic
- Susan Rogel, Friends of Youth
- Eva Ruiz, Community Member
- Sheila Sebron, Veteran Advocate
- Revel Smith, Community Member
- Katy Miller, King County Housing and Community Development
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Adopted by the Seattle-King County HCHN Planning Council:
- Access to high quality care for people experiencing homelessness.
- Holistic approaches to care that integrate physical and oral health, mental health, addiction services, supportive housing, and social supports.
- Improved health status and the prevention of disease among homeless people.
- Providers of care and support for their well being and development.
- Flexible, respectful service models that are tailored to the needs of homeless people and work to link them to appropriate services and housing.
- Diversity and the effort to eliminate racial and ethnic bias in our work and in access to health care.
- Effective relationships with organizations and systems with whom we partner.
- A community-based governance structure for HCHN that is ethical and open.
- Program staff who are committed to leadership, development, customer service, and quality assurance.
- Putting ourselves out of business by advocating for the social justice that will eliminate the need for our program.
- Health Care for the Homeless Network, Philosophy of Care
- Health Care for the Homeless Network, Priority Actions, 2010-2014
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HCHN receives support from the following organizations:
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Homelessness in King County, Washington |
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 The Seattle-King County Coalition for the Homeless estimates that 8,300 people are experiencing homelessness on any given night in Seattle and King County. Each year, the Seattle King County Coalition for the Homeless sponsors a One Night Count that includes a count of people found on the streets and people staying in shelter and transitional housing programs.
For more information on homelessness in the Seattle-King County area, visit:
The connection between homelessness and health
Poor health is both a cause and a consequence of homelessness.
- Much like over 40 million other Americans, most homeless people do not have health insurance. The onset of an illness or disability can easily result in homelessness.
- Homelessness is a public health issue. There is a high prevalence of infectious diseases, mental illness, and co-occuring addiction disorders among people experiencing homelessness.
- Homeless people often have trouble making and keeping medical appointments due to competing priorities in their lives-such as getting a shelter bed for the night.
- People experiencing homelessness often have no place to rest and recuperate, or to store medications.
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