The Houston Family Foundation has awarded a $160,000 grant to the Nursing Street Medicine program at Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert Campus.

The funding will play a pivotal role in allowing the program to continue providing free healthcare services to unsheltered, sheltered and vulnerable populations in the Coachella Valley, and in partnership with other organizations, continue providing behavioral health assessments, testing and medication administration.

CSUSB Palm Desert Campus nursing students and faculty, led by Department of Nursing instructor Diane Vines, deliver vital services to members of the community, including wound care, foot soaks, triage, health assessments, checking vital signs and blood glucose levels, medications management, and preventative healthcare and education, among others.

The Houston Family Foundation funding will support behavioral health by utilizing telehealth technologies at nurse clinics throughout the area. Nursing students, under faculty supervision, will assist with the assessment and testing in the field and help with the approval process for clients with disability for mental health disorders. Clients will be connected to a prescriber who will order medications to be dispensed by the nursing students and faculty members.

CSUSB students gain valuable experience assisting with the assessment and testing in the field and services offered would increase approvals for clients with disability for mental health disorders.

“We are so honored to be chosen by the Houston Family Foundation once again to expand behavioral health services in the Coachella Valley, working with the Desert Healthcare District, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, the Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine and other organizations,” said Vines. “We will continue to educate our future valley nurses on how to work with these vulnerable populations with empathy and skill.”

The Nursing Street Medicine program increases access to healthcare through nurse clinics and other outreach programs with the goal of improving the well-being of people, providing preventive services, treating chronic diseases/medication management, in addition to making referrals for follow-up care. With access to the nurse clinics, the program aims to decrease emergency room visits and the impact on acute care facilities.

The team delivers a valuable service at no cost to those most economically in need of basic necessities. They also increase the number of registered nurses in the valley who have experience engaging vulnerable populations. As collaborative partners in the community, the Department of Nursing at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus is creating and contributing to an educated healthcare workforce.

Nurse clinics are held at shelters, free food program locations, homeless encampments and at cooling/warming centers.

Contact Diane Vines at diane.vines@csusb.edu for more information about the CSUSB Nursing Street Medicine program.

To learn more about the Houston Family Foundation, visit their website.

About PDC: The CSUSB Palm Desert Campus offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, a doctorate in educational leadership, teaching credentials and certificates. Serving more than 2,200 students, it is the Coachella Valley’s four-year public university and plays a vital role in educating and training the region’s growing population.

For more information about the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, contact Mike Singer in the Office of Strategic Communication at msinger@csusb.edu or (760) 341-2883, ext. 78107, or visit the PDC website at www.csusb.edu/pdc.