This Doctor Turned Down a High-Paying Career to Treat the Homeless

       

It’s a Friday morning in Boston, which means Dr. Jim O’Connell is making his rounds. He might be more comfortable inside an exam room, but that’s not where his 
patients are. O’Connell is one of a handful of physicians making house calls to the homeless in the city.

More than 550,000 Americans 
are homeless, and many have 
health problems but no access to care. O’Connell and his team, made up of psychiatrists, internists, a nurse practitioner, a case manager, and a recovery coach, are doing something about it. They spend their days walking around where the homeless live—in parks, under bridges, and 
on the outskirts of town. They treat about 700 regular patients. During these rounds, O’Connell himself usually sees about 20 patients. He knows where most of them sleep and whom to ask if they are missing. “I feel like I’m a country doctor in the middle 
of the city, you know?” he said.

O’Connell went to Harvard 
Medical School and was on his way to a prestigious oncology fellowship when his chief suggested he take what was supposed to be a one-year position as the founding physician 
of a new health-care program for Boston’s homeless. That turned into a 33-year career at the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, one of the country’s largest of its kind.

“You realize, ‘You know what, I’m just a doctor. And what I can do is 
I can get to know you and ease your suffering, just as I would as an oncologist,’” O’Connell said. “You could not find a more grateful population.”

And his patients are grateful. “This man is unbelievable!” one remarked. “He’s like Jesus,” another added.