'Street medicine' takes health care to those without homes

There are thousands of people in Albuquerque without homes, and for many of them, access to health care is difficult, to say the least.

KOAT health expert Abinash Achrekar, M.D., best known as Dr. Ash, says there is a way to take health care to those who cannot come and get it. It's called "street medicine."

"'Street medicine' is when health care professionals go out into the community — on sidewalks, in parks or near shelters — to care for people who don't have homes," Dr. Ash said. "These are people who often can't get to a clinic or hospital because they may not have money, a ride or a phone to make an appointment. So, we bring health care to them."

Dr. Ash, an associate professor of medicine and cardiology at the University of New Mexico, said a team led by Lindsay Fox, a UNM physic