| Isabel Hill Retires? |
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| Written by Jim Withers | |
| Thursday, 08 March 2007 | |
 It is hard to believe, but a legend on the streets of Miami claims to be retiring. Isabel Hill, RN does street outreach in Miami. She was at the 1st International Street Medicine Symposium and impressed us with her deep commitment and knowledge of Street Medicine. She announced her retirement and we wish her the very best. We also offered her to work with us in Pittsburgh any time! There was a wonderful article recently published. Please check it out on "more" below or this link; www.camillus.org Camillus House NewsCamillus Health Concern: Meeting needs on Miami’s mean streets
by Janet Rice  Camillus Health Concern RN Isabel Hill share a light moment with one of her patients. Most Miami drivers go out of their way to avoid the confusing tangle of streets, urban decay and often intimidating-looking population of the inner city. Not Camillus Health Concern nurse Isabel Hill. For her, driving these streets is a treasure hunt. The treasures: homeless people in need of medical attention. “Health Concern is especially valuable because it’s set up to reach the homeless where they live,” says Isabel. “Many of these men and women are extremely nervous about coming in to the Health Concern clinic, but they feel comfortable when we treat them out on the streets.” Through Camillus Health Concern, the poor and homeless – men, women and children, receive access to physical health care. Services provided range from adult primary care and pediatric care to special programs for patients with HIV/AIDS, mental health disorders, and more. “You never know what kind of need you will find when you come out here,” she continues. “My worry is always that we will miss somebody who really needs us. The homeless don’t always stay in one place.”
“These are probably the only socks he has,” she says sadly, concern revealed in her face. “He’s such a gentle soul. He never asks for much.” We say goodbye to Dawson, climb back into the white Camillus Health Concern van and drive on. As she drives, Isabel is peering intently in every direction. As with Dawson, she knows many of the homeless in the area and is looking for someone in particular. Around the next corner, she finds them. A dog, a pug-mix, heralds our arrival with a long string of yips. A man and woman appear to see what the fuss is about. Isabel greets Frances and her husband, Samuel. Frances has had a long history of seizures, some of which resulted in broken bones in her face. She’s in her fifties but appears older. Today she has a severe cold, for which Isabel gives her cold medicine. The medicine she is taking for her seizures isn’t helping, she tells Isabel.
Isabel talks to Frances about the practicalities of getting off the street. “The most important thing is to get you into housing,” Isabel tells her. Later she reveals that she and other Health Concern employees worked with Frances to help her claim her Social Security disability benefits. Frances is apparently also suffering from some kind of mental disorder. “I have tried to talk to her about it, but she refuses to discuss it,” says Isabel. “Most homeless mentally ill are like this, and it’s very difficult to deal with.” For patients like Frances, Camillus House offers a dedicated Behavioral Health Outreach Specialist (BHOS), who targets clients not being effectively reached by existing outreach teams. It has been extremely successful: for the calendar year 2004, the BHOS made 909 contacts with homeless people living on the streets. Of those, 826 resulted in referrals, with 620 of those fulfilled. Now, Isabel turns her attention to Samuel. He also has a cold, and gratefully accepts his own cold medicines from Isabel. “When is the last time you saw a doctor?” Isabel queries. “Oh, about 100 years ago,” Samuel replies with a chuckle. Isabel takes his blood pressure, which is alarmingly high. Out come the referral vouchers again. Isabel completes one for Samuel, who agrees to an appointment at the clinic the following Friday.
Camillus Health Concern
Without Camillus Health Concern, many would go without care. Instead, in 2006, Camillus Health Concern:
Back on the trail
After a quick stop to give a man epilepsy medication to replace some that was stolen along with his belongings, we arrive at our afternoon location, the men’s homeless shelter. We are about to leave again to grab a quick lunch when a frightened-looking young man approaches. He explains to Isabel that he was bitten by a stray dog. Immediately, Isabel’s face shows great concern. She promises the young man, Victor, that she will be right back.
The first order of business is to take care of Victor’s dog bite. Because this is not something Health Concern handles, Isabel writes Victor a referral to nearby Jackson Memorial Hospital emergency room, with which Camillus has a special relationship. A translator explains to Victor that he will have to undergo rabies testing. At Isabel’s request, arrangements are made to take Victor to the hospital within the hour. Fortunately, nothing else as dramatic as Victor’s case came up during the remainder of the afternoon. An elderly man with a foot problem was referred to a podiatrist. A man named Amos with high blood pressure and heart problems was referred to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Another man got pain relief for a toothache and an appointment to go to the Health Concern dental clinic. So was it a successful day for Camillus Health Concern? Isabel considers the question. “Any day that you can help even one person who would normally not receive help is a success,” she says, smiling. Comments (0)
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