Thomas D. Huggett

Background

About Thomas D. Huggett

The theme of Dr. Huggett's work is to provide primary health care and to advance community-based public health initiatives to improve the health of residents of underserved communities, especially those experiencing homelessness. Dr. Huggett earned his Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin; Doctor of Medicine from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine; and Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Working on the West Side of Chicago since 1995 where he also lives, he now serves as Family Physician and Medical Director of Mobile Health at Lawndale Christian Health Center. Dr. Huggett sees patients in clinic and as part of a team serving 16 homeless shelters on the West Side, providing primary care, care to patients living with HIV, and recovery care to those with opioid use disorder. He has worked as Volunteer Health Adviser for Illinois State Representative La Shawn K. Ford since 2006, working on health policy issues such as expanding HIV screening, increasing the use of food stamps in farmers’ markets, responding to the heroin/opioid overdose epidemic, improving pharmacy access, and requiring methadone clinics report to the prescription drug monitoring program. He served on the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Human Services Medicaid Advisory Committee from 2015-2021. Since 2016, he has started medications for more than 115 patients with opioid use disorder, most of them experiencing homelessness on the West Side of Chicago. He has trained more than 48 providers in Medication Assisted Treatment. Dr. Huggett was named the 2018 Illinois Family Physician of the Year. In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Huggett was Medical Director of the Hotel 166 Project, shielding 259 high-risk persons experiencing homelessness in a hotel and assisting in housing efforts. From 2020 to the present, he has led Lawndale’s Shelter-Based Service Team in infection control efforts at 22 West Side homeless sites, and since 2022 leads Lawndale’s team to provide health care to newly arrived asylum seekers in shelters in Chicago. In 2021, Dr. Huggett founded Edna’s Circle to provide recovery support and recovery home services in West Garfield Park on the West Side of Chicago.