Telepeer

CalOptima’s street medicine program expanding next to Santa Ana

March 11, 2025

Santa Ana will be the fourth Orange County city to have CalOptima Health’s street medicine program — a “doctor’s office on wheels” — in action by the end of the year.

The street medicine program delivers primary health care, behavioral health services and case management to people living on the streets by meeting them where they are at. The program first launched in Garden Grove, and has since added Anaheim and Costa Mesa.

A medical team consisting of a physician’s assistant, a registered nurse, a mental health specialist and peer navigators who have experience with homelessness will travel through Santa Ana neighborhoods in a van equipped with most things a traditional medical office would have.

“Santa Ana is proud to be working collaboratively with CalOptima Health to reach the unhoused in our community,” Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua said in a statement. “We have robust existing resources to serve this population, and we are fortunate to be adding CalOptima Health’s proven approach to community-based health care and social services, helping residents get healthier and move toward a future off the street.”

The program comes at no cost to the city. CalOptima, the provider of public health insurance for Orange County’s lowest income residents, is investing up to $4.3 million for a two-year start to the program in Santa Ana. The next step is to find a service provider.

Services are expected to launch in October.

Mirroring how CalOptima’s street medicine programs are modeled in other cities, the plan is for Santa Ana’s street medicine team to sign up 200 patients to be financially sustainable with Medi-Cal dollars through CalAIM, a state initiative to create a more person-centered healthcare system that addresses one’s physical, mental, and social needs.

Garden Grove is already sustainable and no longer relies on the initial grant dollars that launched the program, said Kelly Bruno-Nelson, executive director of Medi-Cal/CalAIM at CalOptima.

Bruno-Nelson said what set Santa Ana apart as a candidate for the program is the city’s proactive approach to addressing homelessness.

“They definitely have a robust continuum of services in their city,” Bruno-Nelson said. “Their willingness to put permanent, supportive housing and affordable housing in their city is very impressive.”

Oftentimes, communities can be skittish about bringing homeless services to their streets, said Bruno-Nelson, because of the belief that more services will attract more homeless people.

“Our program was no different. We faced those same concerns. Here we are two years later, and cities are knocking each other out of the way to get this program in their city,” Bruno-Nelson said. “We’re helping to change the narrative to show our partner cities that services do help, that services can be a part of a solution, and to embrace us as partners.”

Each street medicine program is designed by CalOptima Health in collaboration with the host city.

“While every program has the same guidelines … there are oftentimes differences as each city is a little bit different,” Bruno-Nelson said. “We will be sitting down with the city once every two weeks for at least four months and designing the program, meeting the partners and making sure that it’s reflective of what happens in Santa Ana.”

“This isn’t something that’s happening to Santa Ana,” she added, “it’s something that’s happening with Santa Ana.”

Orange County Register

News Details

CalOptima’s street medicine program expanding next to Santa Ana

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS