Los Angeles County’s mobile clinics and street medicine teams are responding to the emergency that is homelessness.
The Department of Health Services-Housing for Health division deploys them countywide, including regular stops at the Metro station near MacArthur Park. Stabilizing a person’s health and gaining their trust are critical to helping them move into housing.
“These mobile clinics will continue our ability to provide consistent, low-barrier, trauma-informed care that is comprehensive, responsive, and patient-centered,” said Sarah Mahin, director, Housing for Health.
Considered a first-in-the-nation fleet for its scale, staffing and comprehensive services, each mobile clinic provides direct and consistent care through a team doctors, mental health professionals, nurses, substance use counselors and social workers.
The mobile clinics are equipped with full-service exam rooms to provide primary care, such as vaccines and medications; urgent care procedures such as wound care, ultrasounds, and blood work; woman-focused care such as cervical cancer screening, diagnosis for sexually transmitted diseases, obstetrics, and prenatal care; and lifesaving COVID-19 testing and healthcare services. Other services include day-of lab results, behavioral health care, psychiatry and field-based medication assisted treatment.
A passenger van is also assigned to each mobile medical truck to assist in bringing unhoused people to specialty care centers, shelters, clinics, or other programs for more complex health care or social services.
