Chicago mayor urges hospitals to boost preventive care for homeless

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanual spoke at the Corporation for Supportive Housing's second-annual national conference last week and said local hospitals should fund preventive care for the city's chronically homeless, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Addressing the conference attendees, Mr. Emanuel said hospitals are "on the front line of the homeless crisis whether they want it or not," the Sun-Times reported.

The mayor also cited the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System in Chicago as a leader in this arena. The hospital recently made a three-year commitment, worth $250,000, to fight the homelessness problem.

Failing to be proactive won't make the problem go away, Mr. Emanuel pointed out. Instead, hospitals will see more homeless people in their emergency departments, according to the report.

"People today from tent cities, under viaducts and under highways show up in emergency rooms. That's where they're getting their healthcare. Just like people who don't have healthcare went to ERs for preventive healthcare," said Mr. Emanuel. "It is too expensive at that door. If you get [them] on the front end on the other door of the hospital, it is a lot better healthcare."

To learn more about the Chicago mayor's efforts to combat the homelessness problem, read the full Sun-Times report here.

 

 

More articles on homelessness:
4 effects of housing the homeless on healthcare costs
LA to pursue 'millionaires tax' to help support homeless
For homeless patients, length of hospital stay more costly than frequency

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Webinars