The case of Robert, whose CBC/Radio-Canada withheld the family name to protect his privacy, illustrious a really big gap
between the health care system and the services available to the homeless, according to Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, who runs one of Winnipeg’s largest shelters.
Homeless people often have greater medical needs than shelter capacities, she explains. However, we are their last, if not their only, resort.
On Saturday, during the extreme cold that Winnipeg is going through, Robert arrived at the temporary shelter in St. Vital Ward after being discharged from hospital, where he had been treated for frostbite on his feet.
He says that after he was admitted on Friday, the first doctor who saw him thought his frostbite was bad enough to keep him in hospital a bit longer, but the one who saw him the next morning said, for his part, signed his leave. Despite the efforts of St. Boniface Hospital to find him a bed in a shelter, including providing him with a taxi coupon, it took hours for Robert to arrive at the Saint-Vital shelter.
Robert is addicted to methamphetamine and suffers from bipolar disorder. On Sunday, in an interview, he said that sheltersare not a safe place
for recovery.
He says we have to find better ways
to respond to the issues homelessness and addiction
.
Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud explains that Siloam Mission has a room with three beds for people leaving the hospital. These beds have not been used for this purpose recently due to demand from women looking for a safe place.
We have a lot of people coming out of hospital and showing up in a taxi sometimes still wearing their hospital bracelet, without proper clothing.
says Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud.
However, Siloam Mission is not really equipped to support these patients on a medical level. There are no permanent medical staff on site, where a handful of doctors volunteer their time for 8 to 12 hours a week.
Assess the situation before discharge from hospital
A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) mentions in an email that the latter has a safe exit policy for patients and that there is a procedure to follow in the event of sorties complexes
for homeless people.
Clinical nurses work with patients to establish a discharge plan, including consulting with a social worker and connecting with local shelters, according to the spokesperson.
Although we cannot talk about individual cases, if the clinical nurses review the situation with the patient, before discharge, and believe that he will not be safe, they will not discharge him and will explain the reasons for this refusal
he said.
For her part, the general manager of Manitoba Harm Reduction NetworkShohan Illsley, says governments need to do more to create affordable housing.
Hospitals are not housing units, and health care services in Manitoba are in crisis
she says.
Although hospitals employ social workers who could support patients in their exit strategies, you cannot send people to services that are non-existent.
she adds.
With information from Cameron MacLean
