April 1, 2005

MGH program receives donation from world-class antique show

Each year antique admirers travel to Boston to attend one of the premier antique shows in the country — the Ellis Antique Show. As participants appreciated fine American and European furniture, ceramics, paintings and other classic treasures, they also support the Boston Health Care for Homeless Program (BHCHP) at the MGH.

This year, the BHCHP at the MGH was the beneficiary of a generous donation of $25,000 from the show. The BHCHP is a citywide program that provides high-quality care to Boston's homeless adults and families at more than 70 shelter and outreach sites throughout the city. The MGH is one of those sites – providing clinics for homeless persons five days a week in the Medical Walk-In Unit. The funds will help pay for an additional day of a physician's time to coordinate the inpatient and emergency care of homeless persons.

"Homeless patients often have complex medical problems, with frequent emergency visits and hospitalization," says Joan Quinlan, director of the MGH Community Benefit Program. "These problems require doctors who can provide continuity and coordination of care and facilitate safe discharge to community settings. We are so grateful to the Ellis Antique Show for helping to make this happen."

Beginning in 1985 with one physician conducting a clinic in the Medical Walk-In Unit two days a week, the MGH homeless team has grown over the past two decades to include daily clinics and active involvement with the MGH's physician-teaching activities on campus and in shelter clinics throughout Boston. Last year, the team had 2,840 encounters with homeless adults in the clinic — a 20 percent increase from the previous year.

The MGH was an original partner of the BHCHP and remains the only private academic medical center working with the program.