RWJBarnabas Health Creates New Jersey’s First Street Medicine Program

California has been the epicenter of work to improve the provision of healthcare to people living unsheltered. In fact, a statewide community of practice, the California Street Medicine Collaborative, has been developed to bring together providers, health plans, cities and counties, and people with lived expertise to strengthen the field of street medicine across California. But street medicine programs are gaining strength on the East Coast, too. RWJBarnabas Health just launched New Jersey’s first Street Medicine Program at Trinitas Regional Medical Center (TRMC) to bring essential care and services directly to unhoused individuals across the City of Elizabeth.

Through this initiative, RWJBarnabas Health will deploy a  medical team into the community to meet and care for patients, while also connecting them to physical, mental and behavioral health services, transportation and local clinics for long-term health solutions. The team will travel around the city in a clearly marked van, visiting homeless shelters, transitional housing centers, and other spaces where people experiencing homelessness typically congregate.

Unavailable in New Jersey until now, the Street Medicine Program will deliver a full spectrum of care with a broad scope of services to meet the urgent needs of the community, including:
• Urgent & Acute Care
• Chronic Disease Management & Preventive Care
• Mental Health & Street Psychiatry
• Substance Use Support & Harm Reduction
• Service Delivery Methods
• Care Coordination Strategies

Led by TRMC Emergency Department attending physician Edward Egan, M.D., the Street Medicine Program will serve as a reliable entry point for care for people experiencing homelessness and facing additional barriers including lack of health insurance and transportation. The program will provide specialized medical care to unhoused individuals and enable them to receive needed treatments and intervention for physical and psychiatric concerns.

“I’m excited that we are officially launching the Street Medicine Program and I look forward to helping lead this team,” said Egan in a statement. “We know the unhoused population face disproportionate barriers to receiving the care they need. This program will make a meaningful difference in our patients’ lives and help prevent hospitalizations, ensuring we can continue to deliver world-class care to our patients at TRMC and support the broader Elizabeth community.”

RWJBarnabas Health’s Street Medicine Program is one of several created by the health system to specifically serve New Jersey’s homeless population, which has reached a 10-year high according to the latest annual NJ Counts report, with nearly 14,000 unhoused statewide. 

In April, RWJBarnabas Health invested $1 million to provide critical services to people experiencing homelessness in Ocean County after launching the “Gateway to Hope” program last year with NJ TRANSIT and the City of Newark to support unhoused residents at Newark Penn Station.