Housing for Health

Organization Name: NYC Health + Hospitals

Project Title: Housing for Health

Project Location: Citywide

Project Description:
Housing for Health (HfH) is NYC Health + Hospitals’ comprehensive initiative to serve patients experiencing homelessness by connecting them to both housing supports and homes. As a safety net health care provider, we recognize that health outcomes cannot improve without stable housing. HfH streamlines the complex housing landscape for both patients and staff in our vast five borough system. Trusted health care teams refer their patients to HfH to access programs including housing navigation services, social supports in permanent housing, and medical respite services to heal and recover after leaving our hospital. HfH is deeply committed to using public land for a public good, with a pipeline of 650 units of affordable and supportive housing in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan. Cross-sector collaborations with developers, landlords, government partners and community-based organizations are vital in our work to improve access and increase the housing supply for our patients. Our goal is to house 3,000 patients and their families in five years.

Community Impact:
Over 2,700 patients have accessed HfH’s programs. This includes more than 1,400 patients who have benefited from medical respite services and 1,200 patients and their families who are now stably housed through our efforts—approximately half in apartments with onsite supports. Ninety-eight percent of our permanently housed patients remain housed after one year. In addition, HfH aims to reduce reliance on expensive emergency and hospital care as adults experiencing homelessness have 3x more hospital and emergency department visits than housed patients. In a preliminary analysis of 200 patients housed longer than 6 months, we found significantly lower rates of inpatient and emergency department utilization for housed patients, a 32% reduction in the length of medical inpatient stays, and a 19% reduction in the length of behavioral health inpatient admission stays. This work would not be possible without collaborations and/or contracts with over 25 property management firms, supportive and affordable housing developers and experienced homeless service providers navigating and supporting our patients on their journey home.

Organization Description:
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal healthcare delivery system in the United States, dedicated to providing high quality healthcare services to all New Yorkers with compassion, dignity, and respect. As a safety net health system, we are committed to making healthcare accessible and affordable. We focus on health and wellness with an emphasis on keeping communities healthy, and create models of care that remove barriers for special populations experiencing a disproportionate burden of illness, regardless of ability to pay.

Team Members:

NYC Health + Hospitals Leadership: Dr. Mitch Katz, President and CEO; Leora Jontef, Assistant VP of Housing + Real Estate, and the small mighty Housing for Health team.