Santa Ana Launches Street Medicine Program

Santa Ana has started its first street medicine program, sending medical and social-service teams directly to unhoused residents instead of waiting for clinic visits. (caloptima.org) CalOptima Health, AltaMed Health Services and the city announced the launch on April 22, 2026. The program is aimed at eligible CalOptima members experiencing homelessness in a city where a 2025 point-in-time count found about 500 unsheltered people. (caloptima.org) The team will use a mobile medical van to provide primary care, behavioral health services and case management on the street. AltaMed said its Santa Ana health centers will help coordinate follow-up care after those encounters. (ocregister.com) (caloptima.org) Street medicine is basic health care delivered where people are living outside, with the goal of lowering barriers such as transportation, paperwork and missed appointments. CalOptima said the Santa Ana program is designed to connect people to a regular primary care provider and a path toward permanent housing. (caloptima.org) (ocregister.com) Santa Ana is the fourth Orange County city in CalOptima’s street medicine network, after Garden Grove, Costa Mesa and Anaheim. CalOptima said those earlier programs have permanently housed more than 50 members since the model began. (caloptima.org) The expansion had been in the works for more than a year. CalOptima’s board approved adding Santa Ana on March 6, 2025, and selected AltaMed as the provider on August 13, 2025, with services then expected to begin in December. (caloptima.org 1) (caloptima.org 2) That selection came with a two-year grant of up to $4.3 million for AltaMed to run Santa Ana’s program under CalOptima’s model. AltaMed said it had already been serving Santa Ana for 17 years through two local health centers. (caloptima.org) (myemail.constantcontact.com) Board Chair Vicente Sarmiento said the launch adds medical care, housing connections and supportive services for people living on the streets. Mayor Valerie Amezcua said at the April 22 event that the city was using the program to help residents get off the street and improve quality of life across Santa Ana. (caloptima.org)