Medical care for the homeless: Study finds that homes lessen need for emergency care

A new report describes encouraging results for the Chicago Housing for Health Partnership, the first program in the country to link hospitals serving homeless, chronically ill patients with federally subsidized housing. The organization was formed in 2002 to deal with ill homeless people being discharged from hospitals that end up back on the streets without regular medical care. Inevitably, their health deteriorates. If there were some way to stabilize these patients with ongoing help, then perhaps they would have fewer medical crises and not return to hospitals as often, members of the partnership reasoned.