ORANGE, Calif. (February 27, 2024) — CalOptima Health is pleased to announce the expansion of its Street Medicine Program to Anaheim and Costa Mesa, following its initial success in Garden Grove. The program will directly provide urgent care medical services and social services to the unhoused on the streets in partnership with these cities.
Approved by CalOptima Health’s Board of Directors with a $10 million budget, this expansion comes about a year after the Street Medicine Program launched in Garden Grove in April 2023, where nearly 200 unhoused residents have received coordinated health care, behavioral health, and social services. Street Medicine is a key part of CalOptima Health’s comprehensive strategy to address homelessness, recognizing that housing insecurity affects health. Other strategies include awarding grants for housing development, increasing provider capacity, and creating CalOptima Health’s first-ever Street Medicine Support Center, a 52-room facility in Garden Grove that will house older adults who qualify, thus
integrating housing with health care services.
The expansion to Anaheim and Costa Mesa was approved by the CalOptima Health Board of Directors (Board) in December of 2023. The Board will approve the health care providers who will deliver the services tailored to the specific needs of each city on March 7, 2024. Services are anticipated to launch in August 2024.
“The fundamental idea behind Street Medicine is to meet individuals experiencing homelessness on their own terms and where they are,” said Kelly Bruno-Nelson, MSW, Executive Director of Medi-Cal/CalAIM. “With the addition of these new communities, CalOptima Health will bring lifechanging care to hundreds more and support them in becoming housed as the foundation of good health.”
“Anaheim leads Orange County in breaking the homelessness cycle with outreach, emergency shelter, cold-weather spaces, services and affordable housing,” Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said. “We’re now bringing health care to people where they are in a first step toward getting off the street. Too often, untreated wounds and other conditions are a barrier to accessing shelter and other next steps. Working with our partners at CalOptima Health, we’ll not only be bettering, but saving lives.”
Costa Mesa Mayor John Stephens said: “I applaud CalOptima Health’s efforts to increase access to needed medical care. The City of Costa Mesa is grateful to have been selected as one of three Orange County cities to implement Street Medicine, and we look forward to partnering with CalOptima Health to provide medical care for those in extreme need.”