Sacramento Hospital Program Targets Frequent ED Visits
Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento last month began a new program with a local not-for-profit agency that provides temporary housing, health care and social services to underserved hospital patients, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
The program, called "T-3" for "triage, transport and treat," complements a two-year-old effort by local health systems and Sacramento County to provide services to homeless patients at one-tenth the cost of inpatient care.
Unlike the older program, T-3 offers housing without requiring that individuals be clean and sober to stay.
Hospital staff members identify potential clients and notify The Effort, a not-for-profit that transports the patients to housing and its primary care clinic for treatment and follow-up.
Eighty percent of its clients so far are substance abuse users, while 40% suffer from mental illness. Many of the individuals are homeless.
T-3 aims to reduce emergency department visits by such individuals by 65% the first year.
The program is being funded with $400,000 from Sutter Health and is expected to serve up to 50 clients in the first year (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 7/27).