Bronx Respite Needs Assessment
The Consortium is pleased to announce that we are undertaking a study of the “medically homeless” population in the Bronx—defined as those whose housing needs are directly related to their health conditions—and explore how a temporary medical respite program may provide an innovative solution to improve people’s health, avoid unnecessary and expensive hospital stays, and move people into stable housing. The Consortium intends to pilot this initiative in the Bronx with the intention of creating a model that can be replicated across New York City. The first step will be to conduct a needs assessment to better understand the scope of respite services needed in the Bronx. This study is being conducted in partnership with the Office of the Bronx Borough President, the Bronx Partners for Healthy Communities PPS, and the Bronx Health Access PPS, in association with the Coalition for Housing and Health.
The National Health Care for the Homeless Council defines medical respite as “acute and post-acute medical care for homeless persons who are too ill or frail to recover from a physical illness or injury on the streets but are not ill enough to be in a hospital.” We have learned from experience with patients in the Bronx as well as from experts in the field that there is a Hospital-Homeless cycle of homeless patients. When they are ready for discharge, if they are not provided appropriate shelter they often end up on the street, where their medical condition does not improve. They then go back to the Emergency Department and may be readmitted, which starts the cycle again. Only if we change where they are discharged to—what we sometimes call a respite facility—can we address their medical and social needs to break this vicious and expensive cycle.
This needs assessment study will include Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, St. Barnabas Hospital Health System, North Central Bronx, Jacobi, and Lincoln Hospital. We will use a point-in-time method, similar to that used by the Department of Homeless Services HOPE Count, to understand the number and needs of patients who are in hospitals past their medical discharge dates due to housing and similar issues.
For more information please contact:
Bonnie Mohan
Director, The Bronx Health & Housing Consortium
Stadium Station, PO Box 524022
Bronx NY 10452
(646) 844-2919
bmohan@bxconsortium.org
The National Health Care for the Homeless Council defines medical respite as “acute and post-acute medical care for homeless persons who are too ill or frail to recover from a physical illness or injury on the streets but are not ill enough to be in a hospital.” We have learned from experience with patients in the Bronx as well as from experts in the field that there is a Hospital-Homeless cycle of homeless patients. When they are ready for discharge, if they are not provided appropriate shelter they often end up on the street, where their medical condition does not improve. They then go back to the Emergency Department and may be readmitted, which starts the cycle again. Only if we change where they are discharged to—what we sometimes call a respite facility—can we address their medical and social needs to break this vicious and expensive cycle.
This needs assessment study will include Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, St. Barnabas Hospital Health System, North Central Bronx, Jacobi, and Lincoln Hospital. We will use a point-in-time method, similar to that used by the Department of Homeless Services HOPE Count, to understand the number and needs of patients who are in hospitals past their medical discharge dates due to housing and similar issues.
For more information please contact:
Bonnie Mohan
Director, The Bronx Health & Housing Consortium
Stadium Station, PO Box 524022
Bronx NY 10452
(646) 844-2919
bmohan@bxconsortium.org
