NYC Health + Hospitals provides comprehensive care to unsheltered patients
Housing and healthcare are intensely intertwined, and that is at the core of the NYC Health + Hospitals Street Health Outreach & Wellness program. Rooted in person-centered care, SHOW brings primary care, harm reduction services, connections to substance use treatment, housing resources, behavioral health services and material goods to people who are unsheltered across NYC.
The SHOW program began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when NYC H+H recognized that New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness faced unique challenges in accessing COVID-19 testing and vaccination. As the city’s public hospital system — and the largest municipal healthcare system in the nation — this recognition was paired with the unique opportunity to leverage the size and scope of NYC H+H and spread street medicine services across New York City. The program currently has four street medicine teams running out of Bellevue, Elmhurst and Woodhull hospitals, with future services at Lincoln Hospital on the way.
Since January 2023, the SHOW units have delivered more than 10,000 clinical encounters and engaged with nearly 1,300 patients. In total, including vendor-staffed units during the pandemic, SHOW has accomplished more than 230,000 engagements that included material goods distribution, harm reduction education, clinical services and resource linkages. The SHOW program will continue to bring its services to New Yorkers in need and work with partners and stakeholders across the service spectrum to build pathways toward both health and housing for unsheltered individuals.
For more information, contact Andy Cook, SHOW Program Administrative Director, at Andrew.Cook@nychhc.org.
