The United Health Foundation and Partnership for Strong Communities (PSC) today announced a new partnership grant to help reduce emergency department visits by the homeless.
The $300,000 grant from the United Health Foundation will expand the Opening Doors-CT Hospital Initiative by funding Community Care Teams (CCTs), which will work to reduce hospital readmissions, improve health outcomes and reduce the use of emergency rooms as a source of primary health care for people experiencing homelessness.
There were nearly 11,000 people experiencing homelessness in the state last year, according to the Connecticut Homelessness Management Information System. About 40 percent of frequent visitors to hospitals’ emergency departments in Connecticut are homeless or experiencing housing instability, preliminary results from a pilot study of the Opening Doors-CT Hospital Initiative show.
The CCTs comprise health care, housing and social-service providers who identify people with complex health and social issues who are frequent users of hospital emergency departments. CCTs then help connect people to housing and other services, allowing providers to create flexible and individualized care plans for clients.
Led by PSC and the Connecticut Hospital Association, the Opening Doors-CT Hospital Initiative began in 2014 with four CCTs operating in five hospitals across the state.
Through the support of United Health Foundation, CT Health Foundation and other partners, the initiative will expand its hospital network by helping to add CCTs at five additional hospitals by the end of 2017.
