…New 250-bed Harmony Medical Center aims to transform care for the unhoused
USA: Just before dawn, as the city was beginning to stir, Janet Jackson unlocked the doors of a building she hopes will change how America cares for its most vulnerable.
At 5 a.m., without a ribbon-cutting or public ceremony, the singer and philanthropist quietly opened the Jackson Harmony Medical Center, a 250-bed hospital designed to serve people experiencing homelessness at no cost. The facility, located in the United States, is dedicated exclusively to patients who have long lacked consistent access to medical care.
The hospital houses comprehensive services rarely found under one roof: cancer treatment units, trauma operating rooms, mental health and psychiatric care, addiction detoxification programs, dental clinics, and primary care services. Above the medical floors are 120 permanent supportive housing apartments intended for patients who require stability during long-term recovery.
All services, according to the foundation behind the project, will be provided free of charge.
The $142 million project was funded over 18 months through Jackson’s charitable foundation, alongside a coalition of bipartisan donors who requested anonymity. Organizers say the initiative was developed quietly to keep the focus on patient care rather than publicity.
The first patient to walk through the doors was Thomas, a 61-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who had not seen a doctor in 14 years. Witnesses said Jackson personally carried his bag into the building before escorting him to intake.
“This place carries my name because I know what it’s like to come from nothing,” Jackson said during the opening. “Here, no one is forgotten. This is the legacy we should all leave behind.”
Healthcare advocates say the center addresses a critical gap in the U.S. medical system. People experiencing homelessness face disproportionately high rates of chronic illness, untreated mental health conditions, and preventable hospitalizations, often relying on emergency rooms as a last resort.
By combining acute care, long-term treatment, housing, and rehabilitation services, the Jackson Harmony Medical Center aims to reduce those barriers while offering dignity and continuity of care.
Hospital administrators say doors will remain open 24 hours a day, with no insurance requirements, identification checks, or payment expectations. Social workers and case managers are embedded in every unit to help patients transition into stable housing and ongoing care once discharged.
While Jackson has long supported charitable causes, particularly those involving children, health, and social justice, organizers describe this project as her most ambitious philanthropic effort to date.
As the sun rose over the building’s glass facade, patients and staff moved quietly through the halls—no speeches, no cameras, just the beginning of daily operations.
For Thomas and others like him, the opening marked more than a new hospital. It was, for the first time in years, a place where care was not conditional—and where the door was already open.
