Legally and morally, hospitals cannot discharge patients if they have no safe place to go. So patients who are homeless, frail or live alone, or have unstable housing, can occupy hospital beds for weeks or months – long after their acute medical problem is resolved. — USA Today
Hospitals with housing-insecure patients are getting creative in an attempt to both provide more holistic care for their patients while also reducing overall patient and hospital costs. It can cost upwards of $2,700 to spend a night in a hospital, according to a USA Today report, an amount that could be better spent on conventional housing options.
The trend comes as changes to federal guidelines dictating how tax-exempt hospitals channel their charitable contributions make investing in housing easier for these organizations. In Denver, for example, the Denver Housing Authority recently partnered with a the Denver Health Medical Center hospital to refurbish a mothballed building into 15 senior housing apartments.
Peg Burnette, the hospital’s chief financial officer, told USA Today, “This is an experiment of sorts. We might be able to help better their lives, as well as help the financials of the hospital and help free up capacity for the patients that need to come to see us for acute care.”
3 Comments
I just found this beautiful article Sat. Jan. 2. I have been searching to see that the AMA recommendation that doctors begin prescribing housing as a part of healthcare. This opened my eyes to a possible site and reason to build housing for the homeless in Arlington, VA.
Homelessness is such a complex problem, but it is perhaps best for the medical field to be the first step toward housing these unfortunate, forgotten people. We used to warehouse them in horrible institutions and promised to build them homes and provide services needed when we emptied those sites. We never funded what to do with the turnouts. We can do more and much better now.
This idea is interesting and creative. I have no doubt that unforeseen challenges and complications could arise (they always do), but it certainly seems worth a try. The abandoned-building-conversion versus brand-new-apartments distinction is a big one, though.
I would like to see this idea take hold - secure housing is the very first step in mental and physical health.
At this exact moment, though, the statement "Legally and morally, hospitals cannot discharge patients if they have no safe place to go" infuriates me. because THIS HAPPENS EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY. Eight weeks ago I went to pick up my mid-60 yo houseless neighbor from the ER after she fell out of the truck cab she was living in and broke her kneecap. I told the ER staff and social worker that she had nowhere to live while she healed. They noted that she was able to perambulate across the ER cubicle with a walker and therefore didn't qualify to stay in the hospital. I told them again she has NOWHERE to go and they handed me a list of affordable apartments - ALL of which have a 12 month waitlist at minimum (I applied to all of them) - and shooed us out the door.
Look, I get it that as a society we have SEVERELY underfunded social aid. Those social workers and ER nurses are doing the best they can with severely limited resources. But the CEO of the hospital that kicked my homeless friend out made over $2.5 million in 2017. The Board members who serve for the hospital made between $20-40,000 for going to a few meetings - that amount would pay for an apartment for my friend for over a year. It's grotesque and inexcusable.
Once I finally manage to get my friend securely housed - which is basically an unpaid part-time job I've taken on since October - I plan to start making a LOT MORE NOISE about this issue.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.