\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFor six years, a Sacramento nonprofit has been bringing medical care directly to people living on the streets, meeting patients where they are and, in many cases, saving lives.Sacramento Street Medicine sends a physician assistant and volunteers, including UC Davis students training to become doctors, into homeless encampments across the city. Their mission is simple: provide care to those who might otherwise go without it.On a sidewalk in south Sacramento, a routine doctor\u2019s visit looks very different.Medical teams check blood pressure, monitor heart rates, and treat chronic conditions \u2014 all outdoors.For patients like Andy Her, the impact has been life-changing.\u201cIt is wonderful, actually,\u201d Her said. \u201cIt makes it more simple for me\u2026 for those who have less of a home. This is like the number one source for us.\u201dBefore the team began visiting him, Her said he didn\u2019t know he had high blood pressure. Now, with medication and regular check-ins, his condition is under control.\u201cBefore it was high, but now it\u2019s good now because they come out,\u201d he said.When asked if the care is lifesaving, Her didn\u2019t hesitate.\u201cActually, it is,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of people are still breathing because of that.\u201dThe program focuses on people who often fall through the cracks of the traditional health care system.\u201cA lot of these individuals would not be able to go to the pharmacies or go to the doctor\u2019s offices,\u201d said physician assistant Heather MacDonald. \u201cSo we come to them and provide the care on site.\u201dBeyond medical treatment, the team builds trust first. They offer conversation, snacks, and water before asking patients if they\u2019d like care.Providers say that connection is just as important as the medicine.\u201cHow we treat the people that are in the most unprivileged situations is indicative of how we treat everybody,\u201d MacDonald said.Volunteers include future doctors like Q.V. Dam, a UC Davis student who helps lead operations. He said the work highlights major gaps in access to care.\u201cOur main goal is to provide medical care and also social services to our neighbors living outside,\u201d Dam said. \u201cThere are so many systemic barriers to accessing health care.\u201dHe says preventive care can make the difference between a minor issue and a medical emergency.\u201cSomething as small as a cut can evolve into something really life-threatening,\u201d Dam said. \u201cMeeting people where they are is really important.\u201dBut sometimes, the most meaningful care is simply listening.\u201cJust having someone to hear their story and take it seriously goes a really long way,\u201d he said.For Her, the visits offer more than medical support, they bring hope.\u201cYeah\u2026big hope,\u201d he said.Sacramento Street Medicine says it will continue making rounds across the city, reminding people to prioritize their health, and that they are not alone.The nonprofit is currently seeking volunteers and donations to help expand its outreach and continue serving Sacramento\u2019s most vulnerable communities.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tSACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
For six years, a Sacramento nonprofit has been bringing medical care directly to people living on the streets, meeting patients where they are and, in many cases, saving lives.<\/p>\n
Sacramento Street Medicine sends a physician assistant and volunteers, including UC Davis students training to become doctors, into homeless encampments across the city. Their mission is simple: provide care to those who might otherwise go without it.<\/p>\n
On a sidewalk in south Sacramento, a routine doctor\u2019s visit looks very different.<\/p>\n
Medical teams check blood pressure, monitor heart rates, and treat chronic conditions \u2014 all outdoors.<\/p>\n
For patients like Andy Her, the impact has been life-changing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is wonderful, actually,\u201d Her said. \u201cIt makes it more simple for me\u2026 for those who have less of a home. This is like the number one source for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the team began visiting him, Her said he didn\u2019t know he had high blood pressure. Now, with medication and regular check-ins, his condition is under control.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore it was high, but now it\u2019s good now because they come out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When asked if the care is lifesaving, Her didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, it is,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of people are still breathing because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program focuses on people who often fall through the cracks of the traditional health care system.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these individuals would not be able to go to the pharmacies or go to the doctor\u2019s offices,\u201d said physician assistant Heather MacDonald. \u201cSo we come to them and provide the care on site.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond medical treatment, the team builds trust first. They offer conversation, snacks, and water before asking patients if they\u2019d like care.<\/p>\n
Providers say that connection is just as important as the medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow we treat the people that are in the most unprivileged situations is indicative of how we treat everybody,\u201d MacDonald said.<\/p>\n
Volunteers include future doctors like Q.V. Dam, a UC Davis student who helps lead operations. He said the work highlights major gaps in access to care.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur main goal is to provide medical care and also social services to our neighbors living outside,\u201d Dam said. \u201cThere are so many systemic barriers to accessing health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says preventive care can make the difference between a minor issue and a medical emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething as small as a cut can evolve into something really life-threatening,\u201d Dam said. \u201cMeeting people where they are is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
But sometimes, the most meaningful care is simply listening.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust having someone to hear their story and take it seriously goes a really long way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Her, the visits offer more than medical support, they bring hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u2026big hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sacramento Street Medicine says it will continue making rounds across the city, reminding people to prioritize their health, and that they are not alone.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit is currently seeking volunteers and donations to help expand its outreach and continue serving Sacramento\u2019s most vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n
See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For six years, a Sacramento nonprofit has been bringing medical care directly to people living on the streets,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[18143,100673,1409,9476,53968,31381,103426,1584,592,19996,121,123,122,15783,103425,6508,820,103427,1597],"class_list":["post-227274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-care","tag-chronic-condition","tag-city","tag-doctor","tag-lifesaving-care","tag-medical-care","tag-medical-team","tag-patient","tag-people","tag-physician-assistant","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-sacramento-nonprofit","tag-sacramento-street-medicine","tag-south-sacramento","tag-streets","tag-uc-davis-student","tag-volunteer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}