A Letter from Our Physician, Dr. Bob Donovan
Dear Friends,
Having dedicated my career to treating patients with complex medical and social needs, I am confident that medical respite care plays a crucial role within our community. It provides a level of healing, stability, and dignity that cannot be easily replicated in hospitals, shelters, or on the streets.
At the Center for Respite Care, we serve people experiencing homelessness who are recovering from illness, injury, or surgery—individuals whose medical conditions prevent them from safely utilizing the shelter system or other supportive services. Without medical respite, many of our patients would face prolonged suffering, worsening health conditions, repeated emergency room visits, and in some cases, life-threatening complications.
Here, they receive something truly transformative: a bed, medical oversight, coordinated care, and a compassionate team committed to their recovery.
The impact is profound. Before Respite, individuals in the shelter system who were undergoing cancer treatment faced significant challenges attending regular chemotherapy or radiation appointments and recuperating in shelters was not conducive to their recovery. Today, Respite ensures that clients with cancer receive support in attending treatments and appointments, managing their medications, and are provided a safe place to heal — thereby optimizing their chances at recovery.
As the region’s only provider of these services for our unhoused neighbors, our role in the community is both unique and essential. Every day, I witness the difference this care makes—not only in improved health outcomes, but in the hope it restores for individuals who have too often felt unseen.
I also want to extend my deep gratitude to NeighborHub Health, whose generous gift-in-kind support makes it possible for me to serve as the Center’s physician. Their partnership strengthens our mission and ensures that high-quality, compassionate medical care remains accessible to the people who need it most. We could not do this work without their commitment.
Medical respite care matters because every person deserves a safe place to heal. Thank you for standing with us, believing in this mission, and helping ensure that our most vulnerable neighbors receive the care and dignity they deserve.
With gratitude,
Dr. Bob Donovan
The Center for Respite Care – NeighborHub Health