BHCHP began in 1985 as one of 19 health care for the homeless programs funded nationally by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trust.
Over the last 20 years, BHCHP has evolved as the largest and most comprehensive health care for the homeless program in the country.
BHCHP began providing comprehensive primary care and dental services at multiple hospital and homeless sites, including a 25-bed medical respite unit for adults at the Shattuck Shelter.
BHCHP created the country's first multidisciplinary HIV Team caring for homeless persons.
BHCHP was designated as a Federally Qualified Health Center and a 501(c)(3). FQHC status enabled BHCHP to become the first Health Care for the Homeless project in the nation to receive reimbursement for services from Medicaid and Medicare in 1990.
BHCHP opened its clinic at Suffolk Downs Thoroughbred Racetrack, serving the needs of more than 500 homeless and migrant backstretch workers who live in the stables and barns.
BHCHP purchased a former nursing home in Jamaica Plain and moved its medical respite unit to the 52-bed Barbara McInnis House. The first facility of its kind in the country, the Barbara McInnis House faced unrelenting demand, leading to an expansion to 72 beds in 1996 and to the current 90 beds in 2003.
BHCHP responded to the growing number of deaths on the streets by creating a dedicated Street Team, extending health services to people who avoid shelter and hospital clinics.
BHCHP created a Mental Health Team to address the growing need for mental health services. This team's services are now an indispensable aspect of the care provided at virtually every BHCHP site.
BHCHP, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Computer Science at Massachusetts General Hospital, implemented the nation's first electronic medical record for a homeless program.
With increased federal grant support, BHCHP dramatically expanded its outpatient primary care services, assuming responsibility for the clinics at three of Boston's largest homeless shelters: Pine Street Inn, Long Island Shelter, and Woods-Mullen Shelter.
BHCHP published the 350-page Manual of Communicable Diseases and Common Problems in Shelters and on the Streets, a widely used resource on homeless healthcare.
BHCHP celebrated its 20th anniversary and its 20th consecutive year of financial stability.
A proposed new building to anchor BHCHP's decentralized services becomes reality with a groundbreaking in the fall. BHCHP is planning a complete renovation of Boston's old morgue. The new facility will allow for program expansion and will promote the integration of services.
