PSVP Coffee Talk – Dr. Jim Withers — Wow!

Posted by on March 20th, 2009 in Partner Education Comments Disabled
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What do you get when you cross a kid growing up in rural Pennsylvania accompanying his Dad on house calls and going on mission trips to Central America with his mother a nurse, and a visionary former congressional aid who now leads a growing, innovative nonprofit organization???

OPERATION SAFETY NET AND THE STREET MEDICINE INSTITUTE!!

Last night partners of PSVP heard some amazing stories of medical care being delivered to isolated street people in downtown Pittsburgh by Dr. Jim Withers, founder and medical director of Operation Safety Net and Linda Scheetz, Executive Director of the organization.  The coffee talk is part of PSVP’s ongoing education program on homelessness.

Jim is an incredibly passionate individual who has changed the lives of those he serves and those who work close to him.  He is a driving force in the national conversation at medical schools about the need for doctors to take their work to the patients.  We first met Jim last December when our partners participated in the annual memorial service for those street people who passed away in the previous year.

Here are some key take aways we learned:

  1. People who choose (or are forced) to live on the streets and under the bridges tend to have mental health issues related to paranoia.  These are usually individuals who have fallen so low that in some ways they have chosen to die — what can be a very slow death.  They Isolate.
  2. These folks are some of the toughest people, who wake up every morning outside in bitter cold situations;
  3. There are about 300 in Pittsburgh, mostly men between the ages of 30 and 50.
  4. Because of the mental health issues, it is almost impossible to deal with the patient on a rational basis.  This kind of street medicine requires a lot of trust — which takes time.
  5. And finally, there is some evidence that Operation Safety Net and this kind of street medicine has dramatically reduced the cost of emergency room visits, and city EMS costs.  While data driven research is currently being conducted, a similar program in Camden, NJ issued  a study suggesting annual savings to the City and hospitals total close to $8 million annually.

Great stuff and many great questions from our Partners.  Kudos to PSVP partner Dan Koett for putting this session together.