Health Care Center for the Homeless

The Health Care Center for the Homeless (HCCH) is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1993 by Dr. Rick Baxley, a volunteer physician who saw the need to provide quality health care services to the homeless population in Orlando, Florida.  HCCH initially shared a space at the Coalition for the Homeless, operating one or two nights a week through the efforts of a group of volunteer providers.  In 1995, we received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to provide primary health care services to the homeless residents of Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties in Central Florida.  In 2002, HCCH was granted funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Primary Health Care to increase the Health Center's capacity and to financially support the provision of primary and preventive health care services for the homeless.

For many years, HCCH operated primary medical care and oral health services out of three separate locations.  In 2006, we opened our clinic building, the Orange Blossom Family Health Center, located just a few blocks west of downtown Orlando.  With our clinic building, we were able to double our capacity and expand our services to include the housed but uninsured residents of Orlando.  HCCH is the sole provider of health care services for the homeless population in the tri-county area and takes a multi-disciplinary approach to delivering quality health care services.  This approach merges aggressive street outreach with integrated systems of primary medical care, oral health services, behavioral health and substance abuse counseling, case management, and advocacy.  

In 2007, HCCH received a $1.1 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Primary Health Care.  This funding allowed us to increase our medical capacity and to start our mobile health services program.  2008 saw the completion of our Phase II construction, which added four new medical exam rooms, medical and behavioral health offices, and a patient education and counseling center.  This construction was funded through a Community and Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the City of Orlando and private support.  In 2012 we started and finished our Phase III construction, which focused on the expansion of our dental services. This expansion included an additional four dental operatories, a relocation of our administrative suite and new medical exam rooms.

Our program areas have grown over the years and currently include primary medical care, oral health services, behavioral health and substance abuse counseling, vision services, an on-site pharmacy, a residential TB shelter, mobile health services, and street outreach - our HOPE Team.