Chicago hospitals are investing in permanent housing for chronically homeless patients to improve health and reduce costly emergency room visits, according to an article on the Chicago Tribune website.
The idea is that stable housing costs less than leaving homeless people on the streets where they are more vulnerable to illness and violence that drive up healthcare costs, the article said.
“The solution is cheaper than the problem,” said Stephen Brown, director of preventive emergency medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital and of its Better Health Through Housing initiative.
The hospital, on Chicago's Near West Side, plans to extend the program it launched in 2015 and commit an additional $250,000 to place 25 more patients into permanent homes.
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