Street Medicine Woes in Phoenix

Circle the City’s street medicine team in action. Photo courtesy of Circle the City

During the summer, Perla Púebla and her street healthcare team can hit the streets of Phoenix as early as 5 a.m., moving in sync with the unhoused community to avoid the heat, which can climb beyond 115 degrees.

The team, which includes a nurse practitioner, medical coordinator and behavior therapist, spend their days at encampments, resource centers and other locations frequented by the unhoused. They offer medical check-ups, water and naloxone — the life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication. While not everyone is always willing to accept their help, the team can care for wounds, administer IV drops, prescribe and dispense medicine for those who do all from the shade of their van.

Street medicine teams offer healthcare and social services to people experiencing homelessness on their own terms, and they may be more important than ever as more local governments enact policies that criminalize homelessness, according to Shelterforce, an independent newsroom that reports on housing. Chicago officially launched a street psychiatry team last month.

Earlier this year, Phoenix passed an ordinance restricting food distribution and medical care in parks without a permit. The law, which took effect in June, allows only two permits per park each month and bans needle exchanges.

While nonprofits have been fighting against the law in court with mixed results, Púebla and her team have continued to see their patients outside of the parks.

To read the Shelterforce story on street medicine in Phoenix, click here.