“Whole Human Treatment”: Medical Rest Center Provides Pandemic Care and Support | Chicago News

(WTTW News)

For many homeless people in the Chicago area, finding a safe place to recover from illness or injury is a challenge.

The Medical Rest Center aims to provide its shelter through medical and support services.

“The average person is at home, can go to a doctor or hospital if needed, and (they) have insurance to get the medical care they need. People who are homeless are Often I don’t have it. ” Chicago BoulevardOpened in 1994, it is one of the oldest medical rest centers in the United States. “They have no home to go to. They have no safe healing place.”

Last December, Forward housingAn organization servicing homeless individuals in the western suburbs of Cook County has opened a 19-bed medical rest center in Oak Park, complementing its three-unit center. Sojourner House institution.

At a recent press conference, Housing Forward Secretary-General Linda Schuler said that for homeless people, medical rest “because the frequently rotating doors are stopped from the emergency room and the need for medical care is repeated. I’ll be back again. “

Medical rest centers do more than just meet the urgent medical needs of individuals. It also connects clients with support services such as housing, case management, workforce development, mental health services and the treatment of substance use disorders.

“We believe in treating the whole person,” said Renita White, CEO of Boulevard. “Recovery is just as important as the immediate problem that took them to the hospital in the first place.”

Treatment during a pandemic

In the days of COVID-19, social distance guidelines were forced to reduce the number of beds offered by some centers. According to White, Boulevard reduced the number of beds from 64 to 44.

Another center has been opened due to the pandemic.

April 2020, a local non-profit organization Safe shelter open Free Medical Rest Center for Chicago Citizens, Includes homeless people who need to be quarantined after being infected with COVID-19.

According to Neri Basquez Roland, president of Safe Haven, the 7,000-square-foot center is capable of treating up to 100 people at a time. The center is funded by the Chicago Public Health Service and will remain open as long as necessary, she said.

To date, more than 700 people are homeless and are being treated at the center. “As far as we know, there was a 100% survival rate,” said Vazquez Rowland.

“We want the medical rest center to have a huge impact beyond the pandemic and how it can be used in other crisis situations, including opioid epidemics,” she said.

According to White, medical rest centers play an important role in the medical system, especially when it comes to treating homeless people.

“I think the pandemic, which is horrifying in itself, has revealed that most homeless people have medical conditions, chronic illnesses, and injuries,” she said.

Boulevard works with several other organizations to leverage resources and coordinate care.

“We can’t do everything ourselves. There are a lot of people out there,” she said. “There are so many people in trouble that no one in the industry can do anything on their own.”

Contact Kristen Thometz: @kristenthometz | (773) 509-5452 | [email protected]

---