March 19, 2024 – Homeward Alliance (HWA) is proud to announce and celebrate the grand opening of the new medical clinic at the Murphy Center for Hope (Murphy Center). SummitStone Health Partners (SummitStone) is the clinic operator—providing both physical and behavioral healthcare for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.
HWA will host a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, March 28th 3:30 pm – 5 pm, at the Murphy Center: 242 Conifer Street in Fort Collins. The ceremony is open to the public. Speakers at the ribbon cutting include Sister Mary Alice Murphy, the namesake of the building and long-time advocate for people experiencing homelessness and Michael Allen, CEO of SummitStone.
The Murphy Center is a day shelter and a hub of services for people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness in Larimer County. HWA operates the building, and almost 20 onsite agencies provide over 40 unique services to thousands of individuals and families each year.
The clinic was made possible by a $1 million COVID-relief grant from Larimer County and brings desperately-needed healthcare services to community members experiencing homelessness—a subpopulation of people who, relative to people who are housed, suffer far higher mortality rates, are less likely to access primary or preventative healthcare, and are more likely to visit
emergency rooms.
“This is a milestone day for the Murphy Center, the community’s homelessness response system, and—most importantly—our neighbors without homes,” said David Rout, Executive Director of HWA. “We have always referred to the Murphy Center as the hub of resources for people experiencing homelessness. With the addition of a health clinic, that moniker is truer than ever.” The clinic includes a waiting room, a bathroom, and three exam rooms. It does not expand the Murphy Center footprint, but rather repurposes existing, underutilized space in the building.
SummitStone has hired new staff and deployed some existing staff members to the clinic, including a prescribing medical professional, a nurse, medical assistants, behavioral health clinicians, case managers, and care coordinators. The new and redeployed staff will work closely with SummitStone staff members already at the Murphy Center—SummitStone has been a cornerstone of Murphy Center operations since the building opened in 2009—to provide robust, integrated, behavioral and physical healthcare services.
The leadership team at SummitStone provided this statement: “SummitStone Health Partners is dedicated to whole person care. We are excited about this opportunity to provide robust integrated care to this specific population. We value our partnership with Homeward Alliance tremendously and are thrilled to see the growth and expansion of the Murphy Center program. We want to thank the team who continue to provide exceptional care to all the Murphy Center guests. This new space will support this important work and allow expansion of our services.”
Additional information about the clinic, including services and hours, can be found here, or by calling the Murphy Center at (970) 494-9940.