With 60 years of service to its community, Covenant House Health in Philadelphia now sees third-generation patients from some families.
Yet staff members do not let the stability lead to complacency; they are always thinking about ways to reach even more people, said Dr. Susan Stukes, the health center’s CEO.
“We do a lot of street medicine,” Stukes said.
Recently, outreach teams targeted HIV prevention because drug trafficking in some neighborhoods increased cases among people who share needles. The teams offer patient education and a fast start on PrEP medications that can prevent HIV infections.
“They really seek out people. We bring the care to them,” Stukes said.
The center’s deep roots in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood help it to coordinate care with various social service providers, ranging from recovery centers to halfway houses. Covenant House Health outreach teams work at these sites, reaching patients who might otherwise never get treatment.
“A lot of them are just getting themselves together. Some have just come out of jail. Because they’ve been struggling and feel like outcasts, they are less likely to make an appointment,” Stukes said.
Meanwhile, the center has expanded its pediatric outreach as well. For the past year, it has been running a mini-pediatric clinic at Tabor Services, a foster care and adoption agency in the neighborhood.
Covenant House Health staff also met recently with an organization that runs a veterans’ center in downtown Philadelphia to explore a collaboration there, Stukes said.
Although Covenant House has not focused on that part of the city in the past, Stukes said she hopes a new venture will emerge there.
“Have stethoscope, will travel,” she said.