Homeless Population in Connecticut Facing Increasing Health Care Challenges
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) — Hundreds of health care professionals all gathered in Bridgeport Tuesday to talk about how best to serve the toughest patients: people without a home.
It was the annual Connecticut Healthcare for the Homeless Symposium.
“We are seeing homelessness increase. We are seeing people at risk of homelessness increase,” said Jennifer Paradis, the executive director of Milford’s Beth-El Center Inc., and the symposium’s keynote speaker. “That is in direct correlation to the health care that folks need.”
In other words, being unhoused means you need more healthcare, not less. These days, there are more and more people in that situation.
“The lack of affordable housing has just made it really hard for families, for people to live,” said Philip Costello, clinical director of the Greater New Haven Healthcare for the Homeless.
New figures on health care for the homeless just came out this week.
“We’ve seen, unfortunately, some incredible growth in the number of homeless people that we’re serving,” said Shawn Frick, CEO of the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut. “In this year, it increased almost 25% to almost 20,000 patients this year.”
Some of that comes from getting better at reaching them. The Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center opened a care site in a homeless resource center in downtown New Haven.
“When they come there to access basic services – food, things of that like – we are there to provide health care right on the spot,” explained Michael Taylor, the CEO of the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center.
As concerning as the rise in the homeless population is, there is another concern for health care providers, and that is the uncertain future of funding from Washington.
“Depending upon their immigration status, we may have trouble in the future because of the way the Trump administration is defining certain services we provide,” said Frick.
Experts say that makes getting together to share knowledge and ideas even more important.
Article originally published by Kent Pierce on Channel 8 WTHN.
