Recuperative Care for the Homeless

After the hospital, a haven for homeless patients to recuperate, By Anna Gorman, August 28, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “A taxi dropped off Kim McAuliffe, clutching a plastic bag of medications, at a Los Angeles motel. She had just been discharged from Garfield Medical Center and had nowhere to go. ‘The hospital sent you here to rest after you’ve been sick,’ Roy Kaufman, a case coordinator, told her as she slumped into a chair. ‘We’re gonna take care of you.’ Everyone here has been in a hospital, is ill and homeless. Outside, the place looks like a standard motel, with a sign advertising color TV and air conditioning. Inside, nurses help homeless patients change bandages, take medication and recover from surgeries. Opened 10 months ago by the nonprofit Illumination Foundation, the Recuperative Care Center has 20 motel beds where homeless patients with acute illnesses or injuries recover after being released from local hospitals. The program and others like it dramatically reduce costly hospital stays and emergency room visits – often funded by taxpayers – and give hospitals a place to safely release patients without leaving them on the streets…”