THE BIG PICTURE: The VA Salt Lake City’s Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (H-PACT) delivers flexible, coordinated care to veterans experiencing homelessness through their Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) and dedicated case managers like Nate Borgenicht, R.N.
WHY IT MATTERS: Veterans experiencing homelessness face unique healthcare challenges that require specialized approaches. The H-PACT team meets veterans where they are—whether sheltered, unsheltered, or in temporary housing—to provide comprehensive care that addresses both immediate and long-term health needs.
How It Works
Case Manager Nate Borgenicht describes the approach as fundamentally collaborative: “I feel like so much is health care in general, but especially health care with this population is coordinating between different people, and it’s, and just having good, good rapport and, relationships with our community partners and with, people who work, you know, adjacent to the VA. Is fundamental.”
The H-PACT model includes:
- Medical staff, mental health specialists, and social workers
- Mobile outreach to meet veterans where they are
- Coordination with community partners to address both healthcare and housing needs
Building Trust Through Consistency
Working with veterans experiencing homelessness demands a relationship-based approach. The MMU allows the team to establish consistent presence in the community.
“We have an amazing, mental health team that we work right alongside with as well,” Borgenicht notes. “I think just the the team based dynamic is probably been the most gratifying part.”
The Bottom Line
The ultimate success comes when veterans move from crisis to stability. Borgenicht finds the most reward in “seeing the outcomes of people being in really rough situations and now being stable housing and having supportive services and, and their health and, you know, both acute health and kind of, preventative health care being in a much better place and trajectory.”
For more information about the VA’s services for homeless veterans, visit va.gov/homeless.