Dr. Roseanna H. Means has been on the medical staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) since completing her Internal Medicine residency in 1984. She is a Senior Staff Attending in the Division of Women’s Health and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In 1999, Dr. Means founded Health Care Without Walls (HCWW), formerly “Women of Means,” a nonprofit delivering free medical care and care coordination to unhoused and housing-insecure women and families in Boston. Dr. Means led HCWW for 22 years, establishing a free-standing, DPH-licensed clinic, setting it on a path to Medicaid reimbursement, and implementing a commercial EMR before stepping away in 2021.

During her tenure she launched two other groundbreaking programs:

  • Bridges to Elders (2013) for vulnerable women aged 55 and older

  • Bridges to Moms (2016) at BWH, which closes gaps in maternity care and social determinants of health for homeless and housing-insecure pregnant women

Her work emphasizes culturally resonant field staff who meet women where they are, improve continuity of care, and reduce costs by preventing crisis care.

Meet Roseanna Means, MD, MSc

She has also volunteered globally—providing medical relief to Cambodian refugees on the Thai border (1982), working in a women’s health clinic in Costa Rica (1995–1996), and establishing regular care and a community health elective in two Nepal orphanages (2008–2012).

Dr. Means has been the recipient of numerous prestigious honors and awards over the past two decades, including:

  • 2008 – Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Babson College

  • 2010 – Community Health Leader, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

  • 2011 – CNN Hero

  • 2012 – Woman of Courage and Conviction, National Council of Negro Women (Boston Chapter)

  • 2017 – Boston Magazine “Top Doctor”

  • 2021 — Pillar Award in Community Service, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Physician Organization

  • 2023 — Equity, Social Justice and Advocacy Award, Harvard Medical School

  • 2024 — Exemplary Service Award, BWH Department of Medicine

Earlier in her career, Dr. Means served as Program Medical Director of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Medical Director of the Barbara McInnis House, a recuperative respite facility for homeless patients. She is a graduate of MIT (BS, MSc) and Tufts University School of Medicine (MD).

Meet Our Executive Advisory Team

  • Jennifer Goldsmith, MS, MEd

    Instructor, Tufts University, and Health Care Consultant

  • Stephanie Jordan-Brown, MA

    Visiting Research Scholar, Brandeis University, and Health Care Consultant

  • Nancy Norman, MD, MPH

    Health Policy Consultant

  • Eve Rittenberg, MD

    Clinician Leader, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

  • Jo-Anna L. Rorie, CNM, MPH, PhD, FACNM

    Maternal Health Leader

  • Tiffany Vassell, RN

    Program Director, Boston Public Health Commission