San Francisco is piloting an innovative model of healthcare for adults experiencing homelessness. The city and county’s Whole Person Care program assesses patient needs based on a variety of factors that can affect a person’s wellbeing, including housing status, mental health, substance abuse, and involvement with the criminal justice system. FUSE executive fellow Erica Medina Stanulis helped support this work by leading change management efforts across participating city and county agencies.
Erica benchmarked best change management practices and worked to understand each agency’s respective priorities. She brought key stakeholders together to formulate a shared vision for the city’s work on homelessness, which emphasized the importance of applying an equity lens to the problem. To support implementation, she designed and piloted a process for agencies to jointly prioritize homeless patients seeking services, and she co-created a “change management playbook” to help strengthen interagency collaboration. She also helped create a guide that assists agency staff with integrating racial equity into their work. Erica’s efforts have helped San Francisco successfully implement a bold new model of care for people experiencing homelessness.