WSU Street Medicine Grant Trains Residents

Medical residents in Spokane and Everett will gain hands-on experience caring for people experiencing homelessness through a five-year federal grant.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Financial Aid

Photograph of a plain white mobile medical van parked on a quiet street under overcast skies, with evergreen trees and a low urban horizon behind it. — Washington State University received a $2.5 million federal grant to expand street medicine training for medical residents in Spokane and Everett over five years. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Washington State University received a $2.5 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant to expand its street medicine rotations to Spokane and Everett. The five-year expansion will train six to 12 medical residents each year.

Why it matters

The grant offers medical residents hands-on training in caring for people experiencing homelessness, a population that faces money and transportation barriers to traditional care. Street medicine began during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect vulnerable people isolating at home, and the expansion aims to grow the number of providers serving them.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded the $2.5 million grant to Washington State University for a five-year period. Each year, between six and 12 medical student residents will gain hands-on street medicine experience in the program's sites.

The players

Washington State University

A public research university in Pullman, Washington, whose medical training programs now include street medicine rotations in Spokane and Everett.

Health Resources and Services Administration

A federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that funds health care access programs, including this $2.5 million grant.

CHAS

A Spokane-area health care organization that partners with Washington State University on the street medicine program.

Cascadia Street Medicine Alliance

A partner organization that runs the Spokane street medicine program alongside Washington State University and CHAS.

The details

Street medicine providers bring essential healthcare directly to people experiencing homelessness where they live, rather than requiring them to reach a clinic. Providers treat wounds on site and arrange emergency department transfers when needed. Medical residents work in the community alongside expert preceptors instead of training solely in hospitals. The Spokane program, which began in 2020, runs in partnership with CHAS and the Cascadia Street Medicine Alliance.

2020: Washington State University partnered with CHAS to begin street medicine in Spokane during the COVID-19 pandemic.
November 5, 2026: The Health Resources and Services Administration grant to Washington State University was reported.
Over the next five years: The grant funds the expansion of street medicine rotations.

Education Landscape

The expansion places medical education in a growing trend toward community-based training rather than hospital-only rotations. The grant also builds on street medicine's origin as a response to pandemic-era isolation among vulnerable populations.

Medical students interested in community-based training may find street medicine rotations as an option to ask about when speaking with their program's admissions or training office. Prospective residents can ask program staff how rotation placements in Spokane or Everett are arranged.

The takeaway

Community-based medical training is expanding to reach people who often lack access to traditional clinics. If you are a medical student or resident, ask your program about street medicine or community rotation options, and raise any questions about funded training opportunities with your school's financial-aid or training office.