Harvard Medical School professor Jim O’Connell said the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts to diversity programs might threaten his nonprofit work to support the unhoused. The Nathan Smith Society, a student-run organization that supports students interested in health professions, and the Offices of the President and Chief Health Officer, hosted the professor for a talk on April 15.
O’Connell has long been an advocate of the unhoused population, founding Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program in 1985. The BHCHP aims to provide healthcare to unhoused individuals in Greater Boston “from street and shelter to hospital to respite care to home,” O’Connell said. BHCHP is based around clinics at Boston Medical Center and Mass General Brigham, but the team spends most of their time meeting patients out on the streets where they reside.
“We’re getting told that our money can no longer be used for the very exclusive populations that we were set up to serve, including immigrants and reproductive and gender care,” he said in the event. “How do you keep that continuity of care?”
Approximately 65 individuals attended the event, according to NSS executive committee member Carolyn Yee ’25.
NSS president Mingyue Zha ’27 said the event aimed to raise awareness about social determinants in healthcare. She referenced the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze federal funding to thousands of nonprofits as a challenge to healthcare reform.
“I think it’s especially relevant because of the current crackdowns of displaced peoples and how the government is very much oppressing the voices of immigrants and vulnerable populations that often intersect,” she said. “That’s the heart of the relevance of having Dr. O’Connell.”
According to Yee, O’Connell is a “pioneer in his field” by “working beyond medicine as a science” and “treating it as a humanistic process.”
O’Connell began by talking about his experiences as a young student. He said that the politics of the 1960s — from multiple assassinations to turmoil over the Vietnam War — ignited his “rail against the system” values.
Now, he sees, “... a country that’s starting to divide in the same way.”
“I get really nervous that we are leaving you a world that I’m not so proud of,” O’Connell said.
Through personal stories about patients, O’Connell highlighted the importance of compassion and listening as foundations for effective medical care. He ended the talk with advice for students who want to enter healthcare.
“If you’re looking for your passion, just keep yourself open to whatever it is,” O’Connell said. “When you get further along, advocate for these [vulnerable populations] because we really need to see this as care for people that deserve care and need it.”
Mercy Niyi-Awolesi ’28 said she thought O’Connell’s goal to “be a catalyst within the mainstream ... and not be a separate system of care” was “insightful and eye-opening.”
“There is no singular solution to solving the problem of perpetual sickness in homeless populations,” she said. “[Housing] will not solve the compounding problems that occur over time due to homelessness and there needs to be other measures.”
Angelyn Liu ’28 said she was struck by O’Connell’s emphasis on treating individuals with “dignity and respect for their wishes.”
“Even though we want the best for them, we don’t have the same lived experiences as them, and we can’t expect to predict their perspectives without first having open conversations with them about their needs,” Liu said.
