A Crazy Idea

The Cleveland Indians lost in the ninth inning last night. They had hit a home run in the 7th to take the lead but then blew it. I was sitting outside of the stadium with the famous Dr. Jim Withers.

Brittney Spears also was in concert last night so there were all of these girls dressed like Brittney Spears making their way to the concert hall. It looked like a Junior Hooker's convention.

Sitting on the steps of the Cleveland Public Library is a tall black man wearing jeans cut off at the knees, a white tee shirt with the sleeves cut off and a straw hat. He's eating one of those giant bags of popcorn while he talks and laughs with a short pudgy security guard wearing black pants and a white long sleeve shirt. They are obviously enjoying one another.

At Lola's I'd had a fabulous dinner with my friends Bob and Margaret who had made the forty-five minute drive from Akron to Cleveland. They have a home on Tybee Island so we hang out there but they live here. We laughed as we ate a fabulous meal and toasted one another with wine. Jim showed up at the end of the meal.

Today is another day of Street Rounds with Donna Kelly, a nurse who has led Cleveland's development of Street Medicine. We're doing Street Rounds this morning, going out with Kelly on the streets. I'm darting around the country with Jim these days to demonstrate the effectiveness of Street Medicine as a cost effective alternative to the current high price health care system.

It's interesting work trying to create something new to replace something that is broken. The United States has the best health care in the world but the worst access. And it is ridiculously expensive. So we are trying to change that. There are these crazy doctors and nurses like Donna and Jim who still believe in "house calls" for people who don't have houses. These are the same people who make regular visits to emergency rooms and drive the cost of health care up for the rest of us.

We did it once with the creation of the J. C. Lewis Health Center. Now we're trying to take the concept of a health center to the next step. Health Care normally takes place in a building that drives the cost up. What happens if you take away the building?

Crazy idea huh?

But I've witnessed it from California to Cleveland and it works for a segment of people that is very difficult to work with. So we're off to demonstrate it again to a group of people who run health care here.

I'll be home tomorrow for another round of parties on Tybee Island where a spectacular Saturday has been planned. For now though, I'm heading to the Back Streets ... my home away from home.