MIAMI — MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Jonas Richards became homeless several years ago after losing his job as a truck driver. Despite suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes, seeing a doctor hasn’t been a major priority since then.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you’re homeless, it’s not easy,\u201d Richards said. \u201cYou find yourself hustling, trying to keep a little money in your pocket, trying to find something to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Richards recently had his first visit with doctors from Miami Street Medicine<\/a> while sitting on a curb outside a homeless shelter.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get everything done right here very fast,\u201d Richards said. \u201cIt was a big help.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami Street Medicine is a nonprofit organization providing free mobile health care services to homeless<\/a> people. It\u2019s part of a larger group, Dade County Street Response<\/a>, which also includes a free clinic called Doctors Within Borders, a disaster relief team and a mental health crisis line.<\/p>\n Miami Street Medicine teams of paid staff and medical school student volunteers aren\u2019t just bandaging cuts and handing out aspirin. They\u2019re performing intake on patients with tablet computers and offer follow-up visits for chronic conditions. They’re working with specialists like dermatologists, neurologists and cardiologists.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re out there to meet the needs of our patients,\u201d founder Dr. Dan Bergholz said. \u201cAnd if that\u2019s a cough drop, we\u2019ve got you. We are happy to help you with that cough drop. But really the mission is so much greater. It\u2019s showing that we care, and we\u2019re there for them. So when that cough becomes pneumonia, they\u2019ll let us listen to their lungs and maybe trust us to take them to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n Bergholz began laying groundwork for Miami Street Medicine about seven years ago. He said he had started doing charity outreach with homeless people as an undergraduate, but it seemed like more could be done.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just felt like we weren\u2019t quite moving the needle for folks,\u201d Bergholz said.<\/p>\n After learning more about the growing trend of street medicine and being accepted to the University of Miami\u2019s medical school, Bergholz began working with other students to set up a program.<\/p>\n \u201cI moved down to Miami early and just started hitting the streets and chatting with people,\u201d he said. \u201cYou could call it a needs assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as Miami Street Medicine was taking off, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and forced the group to adjust. Bergholz connected with Dade County Street Response to provide health care to more underserved areas.<\/p>\n \u201cA sort of bigger vision emerged to fill the gaps in the local social safety net,\u201d Bergholz said.<\/p>\n