Introduction
Healthcare for the Homeless Houston (HHH) is the only Federally Qualified Health Center in Houston that exclusively provides care for those who are homeless. For 20 years, HHH has served as an integral part of Houston’s community safety net, providing quality care to nearly 8,500 individuals each year. These individuals are homeless, mostly uninsured, and would struggle to receive care without HHH.
It was great to help an organization that is trying to improve the health and lives of the homeless and near-homeless population. We give back to this part of our Houston community, and the organization highly values our help and guidanceBob Orr, Partner
Scope
Healthcare for the Homeless Houston (HHH) had identified their organization’s heavy reliance on limited public funding tied to the homeless population and was considering new funding avenues as a mechanism for long-term sustainability. Oliver Wyman was brought on to evaluate whether expanding care to vulnerably house populations could be a viable strategy for the organization. The project was conducted over six weeks and involved identifying the best-fit population types for HHH and assessing Houston healthcare providers already in that space. Oliver Wyman ultimately selected specific patient populations, and determined financial, branding, and other strategy implications of serving those populations.
The entire team from Oliver Wyman was incredible. They provided in-depth, thoughtful and skilled analysis that will help us make important organizational strategic decisions as we look into the next few years. We are honored to have been the recipient of Oliver Wyman’s social impact initiative and are incredibly grateful to have received such a valuable service from such talented professionalsFrances E. Isbell, CEO and Carlie Brown, Executive Vice President
Impact
Oliver Wyman identified the public housing population as most attractive for HHH and shared the implications of expanding to this population with the HHH board, gathering organizational momentum behind the decision. Oliver Wyman also worked with HHH leaders to develop a five-year strategic roadmap for the expansion with approaches for financial and branding challenges, beginning with the implementation of a public-housing pilot. This 2020 pilot would expand low-cost healthcare to about 1,200 of Houston’s least-supported residents and provide new revenue opportunities for HHH.
Working on this project was incredibly interesting and rewarding! I learned how to navigate the complicated world of lowcost healthcare and better understand the implications of US, Texas, and Houston housing policies. The best part was collaborating with the amazing and dedicated leaders of HHH!Dylan Dickens, Consultant