Primary care training and enhancement -- residency training in street medicine - the purpose of this project is to develop a street medicine residency training track (SMRTT) through a collaboration…

The Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration awarded Lehigh Valley Hospital, Inc. $249,085 on July 1, 2026, under the Primary Care Training and Enhancement program (CFDA 93.884) to develop a Street Medicine Residency Training Track within the hospital's existing ACGME-accredited family medicine residency program.

The award funds curriculum development and resident training in street medicine, with emphasis on didactic and experiential education preparing family medicine residents to deliver primary care to people experiencing homelessness across the Lehigh Valley region of Eastern Pennsylvania. The curriculum addresses health care delivery outside traditional hospital and clinic settings, disease management specific to unhoused populations, substance use disorders identification and treatment, and coordination with social services referrals.

Work is performed in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The project runs through June 30, 2031.

Valley Health Partners Community Health Center, a federally qualified health center look-alike, serves as sub-recipient. Valley Health Partners will develop the street medicine curriculum alongside Lehigh Valley Hospital, provide clinical training to residents, and deliver weekly field support during residents' street medicine rotations.

Primary care training and enhancement -- residency training in street medicine - the purpose of this project is to develop a street medicine residency training track (SMRTT) through a collaboration between an existing lehigh valley hospital accreditation council for graduate medical education (ACGME) accredited department of family medicine residency training program and the street medicine program at valley health partners community health center, a federally qualified health center look-alike. The proposed SMRTT will close gaps in resident training and prepare family medicine residents to deliver high quality primary care to people experiencing homelessness in the communities across the lehigh valley region of eastern pennsylvania by concentrating on both the didactic education and experiential education of those residents. This project will serve the growing unhoused population in the lehigh valley. This population faces challenges in obtaining health care - leading to higher rates of chronic conditions, more severe illness, high rates of mental health and substance use disorders. When health care is accessed, IT tends to be inefficient, high cost and low continuity, compounding the differences in health care outcomes. Didactic training focuses on the challenges that community health influences create in the diagnosis, treatment, and disease management for unhoused patients, as well as utilizing appropriate referrals to social services, and how to organize and deliver healthcare services outside typical hospital and clinic settings. The SMRTT project team comprising individuals from valley health partners and lehigh valley hospital will build a curriculum focusing on delivering primary care services to a population experiencing homelessness. For residents choosing SMRTT, the curriculum will contain opportunities in the practice of street medicine including disease management with specific considerations for the environment of PEH, substance use disorders identification and treatment, mental health disorders and behavioral health care, working with community partners, medical-legal partnerships, working in interprofessional teams, and reflective and self-care practices. Delivery of healthcare services by residents, supervised under centers for medicare and medicaid services rules, will occur wherever people experiencing homelessness are located such as encampments, soup kitchens, drop-in centers, emergency warming stations, and upon release from incarceration. Delivery of addiction treatment services and behavioral healthcare will occur in the same settings. Residents will also be able to observe and integrate with community agencies. This project is seeking a funding preference for a significant increase for placing residents who complete your program in practice settings that serve in mucs.