Hospitals in Action >> Case Examples

SUTTER MEDICAL CENTER - Sacramento, California
Interim Care Program

What is it?
The Interim Care Program is a multiagency collaborative that provides a safe place for homeless patients to heal upon discharge. Four Sacramento health care systems (Sutter Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, Mercy, and UC Davis Health System), the County of Sacramento, The Salvation Army, and The Effort, Inc. – a community health and mental health clinic – partnered to develop the program.  In addition to providing clients a safe place to heal, the Interim Care Program links them with housing, primary care and mental health services, and other vital community resources. Since the program's inception in March 2005, more than 250 clients have been served. Of those clients, 80 percent have been connected to housing programs and 65 percent have received mental health services, including substance abuse treatment and counseling.

Who is it for? 
Patients who are homeless.

Why do they do it?
The challenges presented by this patient population are almost universally unacknowledged outside of the hospital community. Local Sacramento hospitals wanted to be involved in creating a solution that would provide respite housing, but more important, focus on developing a community-wide approach to providing necessary services to the homeless population.

Contact: Keri Thomas
Community Benefits Manager
Telephone: 916-454-6697
Email: thomask@sutterhealth.org