Women of Means:
Bringing Health Care to Homeless Shelters

Dr. Virginia Byrnes, Women of Means

Health care is often very low on the list of priorities for the homeless, including women and children made homeless by domestic violence.   At Casa Myrna, residents of our three shelter programs are helped to meet that challenge by Women of Means, a Wellesley, Mass.-based nonprofit that provides shelter-based high-quality health care to homeless women and children.
 
 “For homeless women many barriers exist which prevent them from going to [health care] clinics; for example, if you’ve ever tried calling a doctor’s office, you know how hard it is to speak directly with a doctor,” explained Dr. Virginia Byrnes, a physician who has volunteered at Casa Myrna’s Adolescent Transitional Living Program (ATLP) through Women of Means for over 8 years.  “The system isn’t patient-centered,” she added.

Founded in 1999 by Dr. Roseanna Means, the organization manages a team of doctors who volunteer their time, and nurses and nurse practitioners who are paid to provide on-site health care to homeless shelters in the Boston area.   There is no charge for the service.

“[Women of Means] focuses on making yourself available where the patients are,” explained Dr. Byrnes.

In addition to providing on-site health care, Women of Means also parts ways with traditional health-care delivery models by devoting extra time to patients.  A typical appointment at a doctor’s office or health clinic usually involves only 7 ½ minutes of face-to-face time with the physician or nurse practitioner.  “[That amount of time] isn’t enough for someone who is older, homeless, mentally ill, or has a lot of physical problems,” Dr. Byrnes said.

Casa Myrna’s shelters have benefited from a rewarding partnership with Women of Means since 2001 in which nurses and doctors have provided medical care to women and children on a regular basis. Each visit varies depending on the woman or child’s needs and covers a scope of issues. During a visit, nurses and/or doctors will provide an intake assessment of the patient, address any urgent care needs, and make necessary referrals to primary care services. CLICK HERE to read more about Women of Means and the services they provide.

“A lot of what we do is try to penetrate the obstacles to getting what the women and children need,” Dr. Byrnes described.  At ATLP, Dr. Byrnes spends a large amount of time focusing on children’s development, making referrals for issues such as speech delay. “I work with [Casa Myrna] advocates and mothers to make sure that they’re aware of whatever the issue is,” she said.

The health care provided by Women of Means isn’t meant to replace primary care, Dr. Byrnes noted; instead, it represents “supplemental care.” “Women of Means [steps in] to bolster patients when standard care falls short,” she explained.

Summing up her genuine passion and joy in providing the care so critical to the women and children living in Casa Myrna’s residential programs, Dr. Byrnes said, “Women of Means allows me to be the kind of doctor that I always imagined myself being.”

For more info about Women of Means, visit www.womenofmeans.org