Inside Street Medicine: Dr. Arielle Banks on Systemic Racism, Patient Rights & Healing LA's Unhoused

Street medicine nurse practitioner Dr. Arielle Banks joins host Amir Whitaker to reveal how healthcare is delivered in encampments, riverbeds, and alleys,  wound care, blood draws, and portable ultrasound brought directly to unhoused patients. They unpack social determinants of health, showing how a $5 copay or lack of refrigeration for insulin gets mislabeled as "non-compliance" when it's really structural failure. The conversation dives into homelessness, the opioid crisis, and a profit-driven, racially inequitable healthcare system,  then closes with practical know-your-rights guidance: asking questions, seeking second opinions, and demanding culturally competent care. 

Watch the video here:

Listen to the podcast here: