Janelle Goetcheus, MD, a physician and community worker known as the "Mother Teresa of Washington," died Oct. 26 at age 84, according to an obituary published Nov. 11 by The Washington Post.'
Dr. Goetcheus spent a decade working as a family medicine physician in her native Indiana before moving to Washington in 1979. Upon seeing the need for healthcare services for low-income and homeless residents in the city, she founded the Columbia Road Health Services clinic. She later founded Health Care for the Homeless, a project that eventually evolved into Unity Health Care, where she served as chief medical officer. Unity Health Care claims to be the "largest network of community health centers in the district," according to the Post, and serves 85,000 people.
Dr. Goetcheus cared for homeless patients during the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and dedicated her career to serving marginalized populations in the city. She eventually founded Christ House, a medical practice for homeless individuals too ill to stay in shelters but deemed too healthy to be hospitalized. She spent her final days at Christ House, where she died Oct. 26.
She received her bachelor's degree in premedical studies from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and her medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis in 1965. She completed missionary work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo before her move to Washington.
“For generations now, Dr. Goetcheus has inspired so many to be part of something that is much bigger than any individual, that is really about healing our society,” said Anne Cardile, MD, a physician who met Dr. Goetcheus as a volunteer at Christ House and now serves as medical director of the Healthcare for the Homeless program within Unity.