Lorenzo Bonds was struggling with homelessness and poor health until Regional One Health’s ONE Health complex care program intervened.
ONE Health is designed to meet patients’ medical needs and address social determinants of health like housing, transportation and mental health.
For Lorenzo, it helped him manage his medical conditions on his own, move into stable housing, and regain a sense of hope for the future.
There was a time when Lorenzo Bonds stopped believing things could get better.
When he was sleeping on a park bench, when he was sick, when he was hungry, he lost hope that anyone would help him get back on track. “I used to think, ‘What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?’” Lorenzo said. “I didn’t think anyone would do anything for me, so I didn’t ask.”
Regional One Health’s ONE Health complex care program changed that.
ONE Health introduced Lorenzo to case manager Karen Tate, RN, and a team that helps vulnerable patients address their medical and social needs. But perhaps even more importantly, ONE Health showed him where to find his most powerful source of hope: right inside himself.
Lorenzo, 59, was born and raised in Memphis. Life had its ups and downs, but he has happy memories, like going to the arcade to play pinball and Pac-Man. He worked as a butcher for years, mostly processing seafood, and also spent time working at a wholesale auto parts center.
He started to experience serious health issues about two years ago. “I was hurting,” he said. “I had sharp pains in my stomach, and I was throwing up a lot.”
Karen Tate, RN, Lorenzo’s case manager, helped him get regular medical care so he could manage his health conditions without them becoming emergencies. She also helped him with transportation, mental health resources, housing and more.
He went to an emergency room, where he was diagnosed with pancreatitis. In the months that followed, he also struggled with an irregular heartbeat and bouts of pneumonia that left him barely able to move: “I couldn’t walk. My arms were sore – I couldn’t even lift them above my head. My joints were hurting. Pneumonia does all that…your whole body.”
Eventually, Lorenzo ended up seeking care at Regional One Health’s emergency department. It is a decision that would change his life for the better.
Karen visited Lorenzo in the emergency department after he was identified as a patient who could qualify for ONE Health. “A lot of times, when patients don’t have a primary care provider or insurance, they go to the emergency room because that’s where they know they can be seen by a doctor,” she said. “If someone has multiple emergency room visits, they show up on our radar.”
That was the case with Lorenzo. Without insurance and regular care, conditions that should be manageable were turning into medical emergencies.
“We engage with them and see if we can help,” Karen said. “The goal is to connect them with primary care, help with medications, help them with transportation to appointments, etc. so their health is managed in an outpatient setting.”
As he got to know Karen, Lorenzo began to shake the sense that no one would help him.
“She’s uplifted me. She talked to me and got me headed in the right direction,” he said. “I feel I can come to her with my problems, and she’s someone I can trust.”
Karen connected him with doctors, transportation to appointments, food, and the medications he needed to manage his conditions. She also supported him by providing access to mental health counseling with Alliance Healthcare Services, one of ONE Health’s community partners.
Now, Lorenzo is living in his own apartment and working on improving his health, and he is grateful for Karen’s support. “She’s uplifted me. She talked to me and got me headed in the right direction,” he said. “I feel I can come to her with my problems, and she’s someone I can trust.”
At the time, Lorenzo was living in a shelter as Karen worked with another ONE Health partner, Community Alliance for the Homeless, to help him access permanent housing. Before long, she noticed a very positive development.
“I called him one time and asked him where he was, and he told me he was at the library,” she said. “I asked him, ‘What are you doing at the library?’ and he said that’s where he went to meet with his counselors and get his lab reports and medicine.”
“I have a card, and if you have a card, you can get a quiet room,” Lorenzo said. “They hang a sign on the door and everything…nobody bothers you. The shelter has a lot of rules, so I couldn’t meet people there. But at the library, I can get everything done.”
Karen said it was a great example of how ONE Health helps patients take charge of their own medical care and wellness. “It showed me he was serious about taking care of his health – there was something inside of him that made him want to take better care of himself,” she said.
Now, Lorenzo continues to see his physicians for checkups and go to weekly meetings through Alliance. He reconnected with his older sister and sees her regularly. If he has a tough day, he stays on track by keeping busy: “I find something to do. I’ll go to the library and read or catch the bus and go somewhere.”
Lorenzo also took the significant step of moving into his own apartment. He said it took him a while to adjust, but now he’s finding a sense of calm between his own four walls.
“Being in a shelter is like being on the street. You don’t want to make friends. You have to be careful,” he said. “I feel more peaceful now.”
Karen is proud of Lorenzo for how far he’s come, and proud of the ONE Health program for its track record of helping patients succeed by meeting them where they are, providing the support they need, and focusing on personal accountability.
“We’re not here to judge – we’re here to listen and ask how we can help,” she said. “We meet patients where they are and help them be accountable. It’s rewarding to see patients like Lorenzo take that to heart and take control of their health. Our program works!”