Doctor to homeless to present lecture

Staff report

Sharon, Pa.

Dr. James Withers, who has been working with the homeless in Pittsburgh for years, will give a lecture at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Penn State Shenango campus auditorium, downtown.

Dr. Withers will speak about Operation Safety Net — a program for the homeless that he founded. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is designed to raise awareness for the homeless during National Homeless Awareness Month.

Dr. Withers is an internal- medicine physician who began providing medical care to the unsheltered homeless population on the streets of Pittsburgh. He partnered with former homeless individuals, initially dressing as a homeless person himself, and began to make nighttime street rounds in the alleys and under bridges of the city.

From this initial outreach service, other clinical volunteers joined in, and Operation Safety Net was born. Today, OSN is recognized as one of the nation’s first targeted, full-time, street-medicine programs and continues to set the standard for this unique form of health care. OSN became a nonprofit organization under the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System.

For more information, call the PSU Student Affairs Office at 724-983-2836.