City of Pittsburgh - File #: 2014-0036

• File #: 2014-0036
• Version: 1
• Type: Proclamation
• Status: Passed Finally
• File created: 1/21/2014
• In control: City Council
• Final action: 1/21/2014
• Enactment date: 1/21/2014
• Enactment #: 5
• Title: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, bucking the trends of the mainstream corporate health care industry, Dr. Jim Withers and the staff and volunteers of Operation Safety Net strive to embrace the most vulnerable in our society and, here in Pittsburgh, put into practice their mission that nobody should fall through the cracks and that nobody should suffer or die on our streets. THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare Tuesday, January 21, 2014 to be Dr. Jim Withers and Operation Safety Net Day in the City of Pittsburgh.
• Sponsors: Natalia Rudiak, All Members
• Indexes: PROCLAMATION - MS. RUDIAK

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
1/21/2014	1	City Council	Adopted	Pass

Body
WHEREAS, Dr. Jim Withers, a full time employee of the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System, Assistant Clinical Professor of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and faculty of the Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh, devotes his time and energy week after week to the homeless population of the Pittsburgh region through his program Operation Safety Net; and

WHEREAS, born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Jim was raised making house calls alongside his father, a family practitioner, and after receiving his undergraduate degree at Haverford College, completed his own medical education at the University of Pittsburgh in 1984; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Withers's experiences in Central American and in India with Dr. Jack Preger, founder of relief agency Calcutta Rescue, led him to embrace “street medicine,” a worldwide movement predicated on providing medical care directly to those living and sleeping on the streets who are unable to reach, or who are actively denied, care through traditional methods; and

WHEREAS, in 1992, under the auspices of the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System, Dr. Withers founded Operation Safety Net, the first full time, comprehensive medical service of its kind focused on providing care to the unsheltered homeless population of Pittsburgh; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Withers and his colleague Mike Sallows, a formerly homeless person himself, began taking to the streets of Pittsburgh in 1992, first facing bitterness and fear from Pittsburgh's homeless population-who are typically ostracized by our economic system and whose struggles with illnesses both mental and physical are not adequately addressed by our society; and

WHEREAS, in addition to delivering care out onto the streets, Operation Safety Net also runs the Severe Weather Emergency Shelter located at the Smithfield United Church of Christ downtown and fulfills the role of case worker, enrolling patients into the health insurance system and securing housing for them; and

WHEREAS, through Dr. Wi...