Denis Hurley Centre takes healthcare to the streets
The Denis Hurley Centre Clinic now has a mobile clinic so the organisation can provide outreach healthcare.
MARY ANN Carpenter set up the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC) Clinic because she realised that the organisation needed to provide outreach healthcare as she realised homeless people were going to the DHC most days for meals but were reluctant to go into a formal clinic.
“It is also clear that often homeless people are unaware of how sick they are. A small graze on a rusty nail could lead to an infection or even septicaemia if not treated early, but many would shrug off something that seems so minor.”
Therefore, DHC has taken healthcare to the streets, under bridges, into parks and along railway lines.
This initiative made up one third of the 30 000 consultations conducted last year.
“We had to do this in a way that was not very safe or clean or weather-proof, just set up out of the back of a bakkie at the side of the road.”
“But now we have a very impressive mobile clinic, a Mercedes Sprinter van converted into a two-room space with a consulting area, treatment couch and lockable medicine cabinets. There’s even a sink! The main grant to pay for this came from the Japanese Government. We also benefited from generous discounts from suppliers,” added Carpenter.
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A facility like this will enable the clinic to see many more patients and treat them with greater dignity. Still concerned, “we also need to keep raising funds for the women nurses and counsellors who provide this service. Donor grants rarely cover salaries so we are grateful to supporters whose regular donations make this work possible.”
Contact the DHC to support ‘Hurley’s Heroes,’ the fearless practitioners of street medicine, on 031 301 2240 or email admin@denishurleycentre.org.
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