Partner highlight: Outside In
We could not do what we do without the valuable collaboration of our wonderful partners. One of those partners is Outside In.
Since 1968, Outside In has lived its mission to help homeless youth and other marginalized people move towards improved health and self-sufficiency, continually evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of its clients.
Outside In has partnered with Project Access NOW since our beginning. Assistant Medical Director Dr. Tanya Page says she was excited to hear about Project Access NOW’s program.
“We could always get patients in front of specialists willing to donate their services. That was never a problem,” she says. But all too often patients need services beyond what the specialist is able to provide, services such as imaging tests, medications, surgery, etc. Now Outside In contacts Project Access NOW.
Outside In’s Care Team and Referral Coordinators, Emily White and Rachel Pittenger, work with Project Access NOW staff to coordinate referrals for health care and ensure support is given throughout each client’s case. Emily or Rachel also can provide care team coordination and Spanish interpretation in the field, supporting the physician and medical assistant who round out the three-person medical team that staffs Outside In’s mobile health van.
“With Project Access NOW, we get a coordinated system of care that is all encompassing, “says Dr. Page. “I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to be able to see a patient all the way through an entire episode. It makes providing primary care so much more satisfying.”
More about Outside In
As a social service agency, Outside In is geared toward youth, providing services such as assistance with both temporary on-site housing and longer-term housing in the greater community. Its day program provides one-on-one case managers, access to computers, food and laundry facilities.
Outside In operates a medical clinic, providing broad-reaching services to address the many health issues of homeless youth and adults . This has meant 20,000 medical visits each year. The main clinic is staffed by four staff physicians and also serves as a teaching facility to medical residents from OHSU and the National College of Natural Medicine. This is additional evidence that smart partnerships help all of us serve the needs of our community’s most vulnerable citizens.
Outside In also offers behavioral health services, specialty mental health services, complementary alternative medicine services such as chiropractic, acupuncture, energy healing, and massage therapy and a needle exchange program. Through the Outreach Program, Outside In sends a 38-foot mobile health van to five different sites in the community each week at two school-based health centers as well as clinics at JOIN, the Clackamas Service Center and VOZ.
