A New York supportive housing nonprofit organization cut emergency room visits of its residents in half and increased primary care use to 93%, Gothamist reported June 24.
New York City-based Urban Pathways hired on-site healthcare nurses in 2015 to help provide care and resources to residents.
"When I first started, [the resident's would] call 911 for everything, it didn't matter — 911 was their doctor," Sandra Perkins Lawrence, a nurse who works at a supportive housing site in the Bronx, told Gothamist. "Just because you move somebody off the street doesn't mean that they're good. You have to give them the tools, so you have to let them know what's available to them."
Nurses now work at eight locations in the city and serve 400 residents who are homeless or discharged from state psychiatric hospitals. Nurses provide referrals to physicians through Medicaid, coordinate nutrition and exercise workshops and remind patients to take medications.
Between 2022 and 2023, the program dropped avoidable emergency room visits from 102 to 50. It also increased residents receiving primary care up to 93%, compared to 72% at sites without nurses.