JOPLIN, Mo. – Freeman Health System has been awarded a $2.1 million federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to establish a Street Medicine Training Outreach program, an innovative initiative that expands access to care for people experiencing homelessness in Joplin.

The program is the first of its kind in the Freeman Health System service area. 

“This achievement is not just a milestone,” said Dr. Barbara Miller, Freeman’s Family Medicine Program Director, “it’s a testament to the power of collaboration, compassion, and the shared commitment we all bring to our work every day.”

By 2028, if not sooner, 70 Freeman-trained family and internal medicine-trained resident physicians, working in month-long rotations during their three resident years, will be applying first-rate medical and behavioral health care to Joplin’s unhoused persons in Joplin. When warranted, Freeman physicians will strap on backpacks and trek into the more rural areas of Joplin to directly help those in need.  

An estimated 600 unhoused individuals are currently living in Joplin. 

“Literally, at the core of what we’re trying to do is going and seeing patients wherever they happen to be, because there are some people who aren’t even coming to the Salvation Army for food,” Dr. Miller said. “Relocating a clinic and still expecting people to walk in isn’t fulfilling the spirt of what we are trying to do with this program. It’s really about going to where the people are.” 

Freeman resident physicians will be trained in Mental Health First Aid, Conflict De-escalation, Motivational Interviewing, and Medication for Opioid Use Disorder. One new Freeman rotation, Street Medicine, will be developed, and other rotations, Community Medicine and Addiction Medicine will be enhanced. This will deepen Freeman residents’ knowledge of caring for individuals in non-traditional settings, raise awareness of stigma and bias associated with being unhoused, and increase skills with training specific to the medical and behavioral health concerns of people experiencing homelessness, Dr. Miller said. In addition, three mobile units will be used to conduct street medicine clinics in Joplin’s hard-to-reach areas.

“There are similarities in how we practice and see our patients in a clinic, but there’s also a lot of differences and you have to be creative,” Dr. Miller said. “It’s very much like working in an under-resourced setting in global health, or far rural areas, because you’re forced to do things differently.” 

Six Joplin-based entities have committed to partnering with Freeman Health System to develop and implement the Street Medicine Training Outreach program. They are: Access Family Medicine, Community Clinic of Southwest Missouri, Kansas City University (medical and dental schools), Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Ozark Center, and The Salvation Army Jasper Newton County.

“I think during the next few months we will be talking with our partners and also with people experiencing homelessness to find out how we can engage in a meaningful way,” Dr. Miller said. “Right now, for example, the Community Clinic has started doing pop-up clinics at the Salvation Army where meals are being provided, and you go where the food is; that’s a great way to find people. So, we’re envisioning that as a great starting point.”