James Withers, MD

In 1992, Dr. Jim Withers dressed as a homeless person and joined a formerly homeless man to visit the street dwellers of Pittsburgh, making "house calls" at night. This initiative led to his program, Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net (OSN) that brings medical care and social services directly to the unsheltered homeless. It also serves as a pioneering “classroom” for students of various disciplines to learn the principles of reality-based care. In 2005, Dr. Withers established the annual International Street Medicine Symposium (with current partners in North America, South and Central America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia) to foster collaboration in the care of those sleeping on the streets. In 2009, Dr. Withers and others created the non-profit Street Medicine Institute to promote the global practice of street medicine. In 2019 he established the first Street Medicine Fellowship at the UPMC Mercy Hospital. Dr Withers serves as Medical Director of Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net. He is currently on the teaching faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where he is an Assistant Professor of Medicine.