Homeless Healthcare Collaboration

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) engaged representatives from local agencies, healthcare providers and others who provide resources and services to homeless and vulnerable population to form the Homeless Healthcare Collaboration. The purpose was to identify available resources, gaps in services and barriers experienced by both consumers and service providers. Healthcare was identified as an area where barriers to care for the homeless and vulnerable are experienced by both the client and the provider. Clients have difficulty accessing community medical care, treatment and follow-up and instead utilize the emergency room as their medical home. Ensuring that service providers have a better understanding of existing community resources and how to coordinate these assets would improve access to healthcare for this population. The Homeless Healthcare Collaboration (HHC) convenes on a regular basis providing presentations by member agencies to educate partners regarding services available to their clients. A secure web-based portal, sponsored by OCHD was established as a focal point for HHC members to post information, ask questions and share resources. A sub-committee of the HHC, which includes representatives of local hospitals, is addressing the unique issues surrounding hospitalization and discharge planning for clients who are homeless.