Born Out of Years in the Field
Solid Ground Street Medicine was born out of years spent caring for people in crisis—and the growing realization that the traditional system was never designed to meet many of them where they are. The problem was not a lack of compassion among providers. The system was built around clinics, hospitals, and offices—places that require stability, transportation, and the ability to navigate complex systems. Many of the people who need care the most simply cannot access it.
Firefighter/Paramedic
Our founder spent years responding to emergencies across communities with large unhoused populations. On these calls, the limitations of the traditional response became painfully clear. A patient in crisis would be transported to the hospital, stabilized, and discharged—only to return to the same conditions that caused the emergency in the first place.
In the most tragic cases, lives were lost entirely. These people didn't refuse care because they didn't want help. They refused because they didn't believe the care being offered would actually help them. Too often, the call came too late.
"You can either stand on the sidelines or roll up your sleeves and get after it. There is plenty of work to be done."
Retired Navy Physician
Our medical director spent over twenty years of service in the Navy, leading small and large multidisciplinary teams caring for patients in both traditional clinic-based settings and austere deployed environments. Since retiring, he has worked at the Vista Detention Facility—the San Diego Sheriff's Department jail in North County—where he has seen firsthand the intersection of homelessness, mental illness, and addiction.
His perspective shapes how we operate: lean, mission-focused, and deeply committed to the people in front of us. Care that travels to the patient—not the other way around.
"You can imagine, there is a lot of brokenness in the jail. I care for a lot of homeless patients trapped in a vicious cycle. Mental Illness. Addiction. No support. No resources. No safe place. In my short time there, my heart has grown for them."
Twenty Years in the ER
For nearly twenty years, our lead nurse practitioner worked in the Emergency Room as a registered nurse. Time and again, she would provide care, stabilize the immediate problem, and discharge the patient—knowing there would likely be no meaningful follow-up.
The same patients would return days or weeks later with the same conditions, the same wounds, and the same barriers preventing consistent care. It often felt like placing a bandaid on an arterial bleed. The system functioned like a hamster wheel—treating symptoms without ever addressing the deeper problems.