By Melane Sampson
Tyler B. Evans, MD, MS, MPH, is a leading voice in global health equity, infectious disease, and humanitarian medicine. As co-founder, CEO, and chief medical officer of Wellness Equity Alliance (WEA), Dr. Evans has dedicated his career to improving healthcare access for society’s most vulnerable populations. From leading HIV and infectious disease care for LGBTQ+, Native American, homeless, and migrant communities to managing Ebola outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa with Doctors Without Borders, he brings more than two decades of frontline experience to his work. Dr. Evans also served as New York City’s first chief medical officer during the initial COVID-19 surge, playing a key role in the national vaccine rollout and helping administer more than two million doses with a focus on underserved communities. He holds faculty appointments at the Keck School of Medicine at USC and UCSF, and serves on several boards and executive committees, including the HIV Medicine Association. His book, Pandemics, Poverty, and Politics, explores the political and social forces shaping global health crises, grounded in his own frontline experiences. In this interview with BioTuesdays, Dr. Evans discusses the mission, model, and future of WEA, and the vital grassroots services it provides to communities across the U.S.
What inspired the founding of WEA?
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a glaring disconnect between healthcare and public health in the U.S., particularly in how they serve statistically marginalized communities. We saw that a significant portion of the population—at least a third, and possibly closer to half—either cannot or will not engage with the traditional healthcare system. Despite billions of dollars invested in federally funded health centers and safety-net hospitals, many of our most vulnerable populations still fall through the cracks. This prompted us to rethink how healthcare and public health intersect. WEA was born out of a desire to disrupt the status quo and reimagine a system that meets people where they are, physically and culturally—delivering care with empathy, innovation, and a deep commitment to equity.
How would you describe WEA’s mission in action?
Think of WEA as the connective tissue stitching together fragmented systems. A powerful example is our work with unsheltered populations in Southern California, where the homelessness crisis is arguably the worst in North America. The system continues to pathologize this issue, driving people to use emergency rooms and safety nets without improving outcomes—it’s expensive and ineffective. Our approach brings healthcare directly to encampments. We provide primary care, street psychiatry, addiction medicine, and infectious disease management—HIV, hepatitis, and STIs—right where people live. There’s a strong public health element: we’re preventing congenital syphilis, halting HIV transmission, and building sustainable community health infrastructure.
What types of services does WEA deliver?
WEA goes beyond traditional brick-and-mortar healthcare. We use a syndemic approach—addressing intersecting health and social issues simultaneously—by deploying multispecialty street medicine teams directly into communities.
Our services include:
- Primary care
- Behavioral health (mental health and substance use disorder prevention and treatment)
- Infectious disease care
- Care management
We also offer:
- School-based mobile health units for at-risk youth, providing access to mental health, sexual health, and wellness services.
- Carceral health and re-entry programs to ensure continuity of care before and after incarceration, especially for those with substance use disorders.
- Collaborations with Native American tribes to promote healthcare sovereignty and culturally integrated wellness models that blend traditional knowledge with modern medicine.
Central to all of this are our community health workers (CHWs), who are local, trusted, and essential in bridging the gap between communities and healthcare providers.
Can you walk us through WEA’s business model?
Our model is built on several key revenue streams:
- Government contracts – These are typically with cities, counties, or states, and often involve federal dollars. Contracts provide the foundational capital needed for mobile units, staffing, and initial infrastructure.
- Medical billing – Over time, we establish contracts with Medicaid, Medicare, and managed care organizations. In California, for example, it took nearly three years to become fully credentialed with these systems.
- Social innovation funding – Through programs like California’s CalAIM (a Medicaid 1115 waiver initiative), we access dollars tied to enhanced care management and community supports. These long-term investments—typically three to five years—are focused on high-impact populations.
- Grants and philanthropy – We seek foundation funding, federal grants, and private donations to layer on top of our core revenue.
- Opioid settlement funds – These have become an important and flexible funding stream for addiction-related services.
Given the volatility of federal funding, we’ve intentionally diversified. Our team adapts quickly, shifting resources to ensure continuity of care and keeping our teams on the ground.
Why are community health workers (CHWs) so essential to WEA’s model?
CHWs are the heartbeat of WEA. They’re often from the very communities they serve and bring cultural insight, trust, and relatability that traditional healthcare often lacks. Whether working with people just released from incarceration, homeless individuals, at-risk youth, or tribal communities, CHWs act as the bridge between clinical providers and vulnerable populations. A typical outreach team includes a medical provider (physician), a nurse or medical assistant, a behavioral health clinician, and a CHW. High-level specialists like psychiatrists or infectious disease experts support remotely, advising frontline teams and consulting as needed. And the best part is that we’re increasingly able to bill for CHW services, integrating them fully into our care delivery and sustainability strategy.
How is WEA using technology and innovation to drive impact?
AI is becoming a powerful tool, especially in the hands of our CHWs. It enhances access to information, supports real-time education, and helps our teams respond more efficiently to complex health issues in the field. Looking ahead, we see a need to de-politicize public health and focus on cross-sector collaboration—biotech, healthcare, social services, tech, and community organizations all have a role. The reality is that when a third (or more) of the population is disconnected from the healthcare system, everyone is at risk. COVID-19 showed us that when marginalized populations can’t access care, the entire system suffers. Delays, overwhelmed hospitals, and unnecessary deaths were all preventable. That’s why innovation, inclusion, and advocacy are critical moving forward.
What message do you want to share with those outside the public health space?
Even if you don’t feel personally connected to these issues, you can still make a difference. Engineers, creatives, business leaders—there are countless opportunities to engage in the work of equity and social innovation. We need all hands on deck. For me, this has always been about following a calling. Losing both parents at a young age set me on a path toward service. I’ve stayed focused on helping others, and in doing so found the voice to advocate for communities that are often unheard. That’s what drives me—and that’s what WEA is all about. Follow your vision. Don’t give up. The work is hard—but it’s also profoundly meaningful.
• • • • •
To connect with Wellness Equity Alliance or any other companies featured on BioTuesdays, send us an email at editor@biotuesdays.com.
