Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO) has launched a collaboration project to establish a Recuperative Housing Center. The center will provide 50 beds of temporary housing and continued care for patients who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity and need a safe place to continue their recovery, immediately following a hospital discharge. This collaboration is the first of its kind in Michigan.
The center is funded by United Way for Southeastern Michigan and McGregor Fund, and supported by the City of Detroit. The collaborative, a 90-day pilot project, looks to promote wellness, preventing avoidable rehospitalization, and allowing for more efficient use of hospital beds, especially in light of COVID-19. Historically, housing insecure individuals are returned to shelters following discharge because they do not have a permanent residence and their recovery is disrupted.
“While this project has launched during this crisis, NSO and our collaboration partners aim to continue developing long-term solutions for the healthcare delivery system in the space of housing, because we believe housing is healthcare,” says Linda Little, president and CEO of Neighborhood Service Organization, which is operating the center located in Detroit.
The strength of the collaboration is the unprecedented engagement of health systems and community-based agencies – all working together to address the issue of housing on the healthcare delivery system. The experiential knowledge and outcomes from this pilot will inform long-term, sustainable solutions for this unmet need that the collaborative intends to address in the community. Partners in this effort include Ascension Michigan, Henry Ford Health System, Authority Health, CHASS Center, Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS) and Detroit Area Agency on Aging, with NSO serving as the lead agency.
“COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on all of us, especially the homeless and most vulnerable in our community,” added Dr. Darienne Hudson, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan. “We are glad to provide support for such an important, first of its kind project.”
The Recuperative Housing Center offers a solution to participating hospitals in metro Detroit’s tri-county area. The challenge of safe discharge planning for this high-risk population has only been amplified during the COVID-19 crisis.
Patients who are medically-cleared, and meet a defined set of criteria, are referred into the recuperative housing center by Ascension Michigan and Henry Ford Health System. Health plans will benefit from this solution, as a recuperative housing center is a lower-cost alternative to acute and sub-acute care. However, the greatest impact will be on the individuals served.
While at the Recuperative Housing Center, patients will receive personalized case management to safely transition to a shelter or another housing solution for which they qualify. They will also receive care coordination support to assist with follow-up care and medication management, as well as access to telehealth services. Home care can also be provided if indicated.
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