The funding question: health care or housing?
We continue to receive many thoughtful and detailed questions, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we do our homework (we’re not experts on everything!) to provide you accurate responses.
Today, we answer a question that touches on homelessness, its impact on health, public funding and more.
If you have a question, comment or suggestion, we’re listening and we encourage you to email us what’s on your mind.
Today’s answered question
Q. The latest issue of Canadian Nurse contained an article on the Housing First research project. The self-evident conclusion was that when people’s basic needs for shelter are met, their health care needs (and thus costs) decrease. This is one of many examples of how unmet needs (e.g. housing, food, heating, basic safety) end up impacting health care, but are not health care issues per se. It seems unreasonable to me to rein in health care spending, to the detriment of health care, when these dollars are actually being used to patch up non-health care holes. Is this a message VCH is sending to government? Do you see a way out of this?
A. Thanks so much for this important question. As you point out, housing, food and other basic needs are fundamental to establishing and maintaining good health. For people with a chronic or mental illness, a warm, safe place to call home is essential before they can fully engage in their personal health care management. Health care and housing don’t operate in isolation. Both are required to be effective, but in Vancouver more than 2,700 people are homeless and another 6,000 live in single room occupancy (SRO) hotels.
Do we see a way out of this? Yes, but more health care funding isn’t always the answer.
To make an even greater, lasting impact for the most vulnerable people in our city, we believe additional funding is needed for housing. That’s why we’re partnering with BC Housing and the City of Vancouver. Together, we’re working to deliver the right heath care services hand in hand with the right supportive housing for people facing complex challenges. In addition, we’re working together to make the Housing First agenda a strategic — and funding — public priority.
This is hard work, but we may be better positioned for success than ever before, and we remain optimistic about what we can achieve for the sake of our shared clients and patients, the health care system and the city.
Bett Lauridsen
In 1993 I was the manager of the STAT Centre. Our staff met several times with Health and Ministry officials to discuss the closing of Riverview Hospital. The plan was to close the facility and move the patients into the Community.
There was nothing wrong with the concept; there was everything wrong with the plan. Mentally ill patients, many of whom had lived at Riverview for years, were to be discharged into the community and placed in mental health boarding homes. Our staff was very much against this ill conceived plan, but our argument against discharges without additional facilities in place was fruitless.
Unfortunately there were few places in Vancouver with appropriate space for these people. However, Riverview was closed and the patients were placed in Downtown East Side rundown hotels. The hotel managers were not prepared to cope with some of the behaviors exhibited by their new tenants and they were sent out every day and only allowed back in the evening. On the streets they were at the mercy of drug addicts, and thieves. There was little available in the way of therapy.
For the last 20 years we have heard increasing reports of crime which is eventually attributed to mental illness. Police are shooting knife wielding individuals. Attacks are increasing by people wielding hammers and machetes.Violent attacks are common.
Unfortunately,it is impossible to go back 20 years and say “we told you so”; the perpetrators of this asinine legislation are long gone and the citizens of today are left to bear the brunt of their decision.