Primary care training and enhancement -- residency training in street medicine - this application requests support for the baycare street medicine collaborative (BSMC), a collaborative of three…

The Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professionals awarded Baycare Health System Inc. $458,035 on July 1, 2026, under the Primary Care Training and Enhancement program (CFDA 93.884) to establish and operate the BayCare Street Medicine Collaborative, a residency training initiative across three BayCare hospital residency programs in the Tampa Bay and West Central Florida regions.

The award funds training in street medicine and primary care delivery for individuals experiencing homelessness. The collaborative will train approximately 82 residents annually for a total of 410 residents over the five-year project period. Training occurs at clinic sites and hospital residency programs located in health professional shortage areas and medically underserved areas in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties. Baycare operates 16 hospitals and hundreds of ambulatory locations across West Central Florida; the award's place of performance is Clearwater, Florida.

The program addresses a documented gap in residency training: over 4,000 individuals experienced homelessness in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties in 2024, and Baycare's three hospitals treated more than 3,000 unhoused patients that year, yet no dedicated residency programs in the area provide continuous, community-based training focused on care delivery to this population. The award supports the development of experiential learning in clinical settings serving the unhoused and didactic curriculum tailored to their healthcare needs.

The project period runs through June 30, 2031. This is a Project Grant, the standard assistance type under PCTE.

Primary care training and enhancement -- residency training in street medicine - this application requests support for the baycare street medicine collaborative (BSMC), a collaborative of three hospital residency programs operating out of the baycare health system to train 82 residents per year in street medicine, for a total of 410 residents impacted by the grant. Baycare health system INC (BCHS), a leading not-for-profit healthcare system, connects individuals and families to a wide range of services across 16 hospitals and hundreds of ambulatory locations throughout the tampa BAY and west central florida regions. BCHS's hospitals and our proposed clinic sites are in health professional shortage areas (HPSA) and medically underserved areas (MUA) in west/central florida. Project need: the shortage of medical residency training in street medicine is stark compared to the growing number of unhoused individuals in the pinellas and hillsborough county service area. According to the most recent point in time count (PITC), over 4,000 individuals experienced homelessness in these counties in 2024. That same year, our three hospitals treated more than 3,000 unhoused patients, underscoring a significant medical need. Despite this, there are no dedicated residency programs in our area focused on providing continuous, community-based care to this population. BCHS recently opened seven graduate medical education programs from 2020-2024. Most of such programs are internal medicine and family medicine residency training programs. Currently, medical training at baycare for residents treating individuals experiencing homelessness is underdeveloped, lacking both experiential learning in clinical settings that serve the unhoused and a didactic curriculum tailored to their unique healthcare needs. Establishing a street medicine residency program at BCHS will bridge this GAP by equipping physicians with the skills to deliver care beyond traditional hospital settings. Proposed program: over 5 years, BSMC will serve 410 residents at three hospital residency programs: (1) ST. Anthony's hospital - internal medicine, (2) ST. Joseph's hospital -internal medicine, and (3) ST. Joseph's hospital (SOUTH)- family medicine. Led by DR. AL-obaydi of ST. Anthony's hospital, the project will meet the goals and objectives of the pcte-rtsm program by (1) enhancing training for three baycare residencies by offering clinical rotations at two community-based clinics serving the homeless and (2) enhancing our didactic curriculum to incorporate lessons specially designed to address the needs of individuals without housing (I.E sdoh, medical-legal partnerships, understanding of distinct customs). Funding priority or preference: we are requesting funding under competitive preference qualification 3: new training programs