On Wednesday evenings when most people are settling down
to watch The West Wing or a good game on ESPN, a group of dedicated BWH and Harvard Vanguard physicians are volunteering their time to meet the medical needs of homeless veterans.
Led by BWH pulmonary and critical care specialist and co-director for BWH’s medical residency program Bruce Levy, MD, the physicians volunteer every Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. On Wednesday January 8, BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, hosted a breakfast to thank those physician volunteers and learn more about unmet needs at the shelter.
BWH physicians have been volunteers in the shelter clinic at 17 Court Street since 1991. Levy is the volunteer medical director at the veterans’ shelter (established in 1990 as the first in the United States to specifically serve veterans) and has coordinated the Wednesday evening clinic since 1993. In addition to a core group of faculty, clinic volunteers include some members of the BWH house staff as well as medical students, who volunteer as part of their introduction to clinical medicine.
Levy explained that most of the shelter’s homeless vets served in Vietnam and Desert Storm and receive job training or work full or part-time jobs as they transition out of the shelter. “This is incredibly rewarding work because the veterans we see are extremely motivated, and when they get sick, they hate to miss work,” said Levy, who recently joined a group of advocates to brief Governor Romney on the effects of human service budget cuts.
“We provide a range of medical services during the Wednesday evening clinic including physicals needed for jobs, removing sutures, and providing other first aid and referral services to help the clients access primary care. In addition, the majority of the veterans have PTSD or other psychiatric illness, as well as dental, skin, and vision problems, which are fairly typical among homeless adults,” Levy explained.
Levy and the other volunteers, including Joseph Dorsey, MD, medical director, Inpatient Programs, HVMA, briefed Gottlieb on a number of unmet medical needs at the shelter including: the need for psychiatrists to run regular group sessions; nursing education; help organizing the shelter pharmacy; and surplus medical equipment such as nebulizers and EKG equipment.
According to Levy, approximately one-half of the 1,400 vets to whom the shelter provides services annually are covered by VA benefits. Others receive free care or MassHealth Basic – coverage that is due to end on April 1.
Gottlieb applauded the work of the shelter volunteers saying, “This effort is a fine example of a long-standing and vigorous relationship between BWH and HVMA physicians. Each of you makes an enormous contribution to veterans who served our country and you bring a compassionate and caring face to BWH and Partners. It means a great deal to the hospital and to me personally to have BWH physicians involved in the community in this way. I promise to do what I can to support your efforts,” said Gottlieb.
Other BWH and HVMA volunteers at the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans are: Michael Brabeck, MD; Wendy Chen, MD; Michael Fischer, MD; Nancy Keating, MD;
Eric Knight, MD; Richard Lee, MD; Leslie Lucchina, MD; Anne Pereira, MD; Maxine Stanesa, PA; Kathryn Rexrode, MD; and John Vanderpool, MD.