May 14, 2004

Art that speaks of hope

MGH President Peter L. Slavin, MD, the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) at the MGH and the MGH Community Benefits Program invite the MGH community to an opening reception for an art exhibit by patients at the Barbara McInnis House — a recuperative program of the BHCHP — May 21, from 4 to 5:30 pm under the Bulfinch Tent. The art exhibit will hang across from Coffee Central May 17 to 28.

The MGH and the BHCHP also are celebrating a 19-year partnership. Among the 19 original health care for the homeless projects funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 1985, the MGH was the only academic medical center to support and conduct an on-site clinic dedicated to the special needs of homeless persons. The BHCHP team at the MGH maintains an ambulatory clinic within the MGH Medical Walk-in Unit and assists the Emergency Department and inpatient areas with the care of homeless persons.

The team also conducts direct care services at several BHCHP community-based sites including Pine Street Inn, Pilgrim Shelter, and two Beacon Hill churches that serve homeless and poor persons — St. John of God Church on Bowdoin Street and the Church of the Advent on Brimmer Street. In addition, MGH clinicians are part of BHCHP's Street Team and regularly conduct clinics at the Boston Night Center, the Pine Street Inn Overnight Van and directly on the streets, in the alleyways and under the bridges of Boston.

For more information about the program, call Sharon Lee Joseph at (617) 726-8197.