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New program offers homeless patients a safe place to recover Date published: 6/14/2010
BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE
Maryanne Kramer left the hospital last month and went back to her She slept on benches in Walmart dressing rooms, spent nights roaming the aisles of a 24-hour drugstore and slept outside in the rain. Within weeks, Kramer collapsed and ended up back in the hospital. In addition to her chronic medical problems, Kramer also suffered from dehydration and pneumonia. This time, social workers arranged for Kramer to go to the Sunshine Lady House for Mental Health Wellness & Recovery. That center, run by the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board, helps adults with acute psychiatric problems. There, Kramer received treatment for depression and a referral to the Residential Recovery Program of Micah Ecumenical Ministries. The respite care program, which opened last month, offers ailing homeless patients the ability to recover in a cheerful yellow house. Kramer spent nearly three weeks at the respite home on Princess Anne Street in Fredericksburg. She soaked in a large tub, slept under a handmade quilt and ate three meals a day. In three weeks, the underweight woman gained 12 pounds. She also regained her health. Staff members worked with Kramer to find help in paying for her medicine, and found her a room to rent in Stafford County. "If I would have just been discharged from the hospital with nowhere to go, I would have ended up dead," Kramer said. Meghann Cotter, Micah's director, said Kramer's case exemplifies how the community can help. "She was in a crisis, and ended up in the hospital," Cotter said. "She stepped down to crisis stabilization and then she stepped down to us, and now she's going to permanent housing, which is exactly how it's supposed to work." The respite house operates through a $140,000 grant from the Mary Washington Hospital Foundation. Micah's new effort is one of about 40 respite programs nationwide, and more than half of them are funded through hospitals. Many hospitals discover that paying for respite for a homeless person is cheaper than inpatient treatment, said John Lozier, executive director of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. Christopher Pierson, an administrative resident at Mary Washington Healthcare, studied Micah's initial grant request. He looked at 136 homeless patients at Mary Washington Hospital. In one year, those patients' bills totaled $2.1 million.
Date published: 6/14/2010
This is a postive step in the right direction! I hope the program will continue to expand and that area residents reach out to help.
By all involved, including Mary Washington Healthcare who can get a bad rap at times (sometimes deserved). In this case they have chosen wisely by investing in rehabilitation. Good work!
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