On Wednesday, Orange County received approval for a $23.5 million pilot project to deliver a more holistic and individualized approach to homelessness. Under the five-year Whole Person Care pilot program, Orange County will move homeless patients out of emergency rooms and into recuperative care and supportive services. Orange County will put up a portion of the funding with the federal government matching local dollars.
"Every person’s situation is unique. For some, it’s serious mental illness. Other people may struggle with substance abuse," said Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, who has led the county’s comprehensive response to homelessness. "Our goal with this pilot program is to deliver personalized solutions that keep people off the street and out of the ER."
In 2015, Orange County taxpayers paid the Medi-Cal bills for 5,918 homeless patients that accessed local emergency rooms. More than 1,000 of these patients visited Orange County emergency rooms more than once within a three-month period. The Whole Person Care program will work to reduce these frequent emergency room visits by coordinating medical, behavioral health and social service programs to meet the individual needs of these high-risk Medi-Cal members.
Under the current system, once the homeless are discharged from the hospital, they end up right back on the streets. Now with the Whole Person Care system in place, a team of contracted providers will automatically be notified when a homeless patient accesses the emergency room. The team will then immediately find a warm bed where the homeless patient can fully recover. At the same time helping them get back on their feet via supportive services tailored to ending the patient's cycle of homelessness. Whole Person Care represents a shift in thinking towards building a healthcare system that allows the homeless to receive coordinated and comprehensive services that go far beyond just treating the immediate acute medical emergency.
"Orange County is addressing the underlying causes of homelessness," explained Supervisor Andrew Do, First District. "This pilot program will work to reduce emergency room visits by identifying each person’s medical and social service need."
The County of Orange has been approved through the state Department of Health Care Services. Participating hospitals and community clinics have agreed to redirect a portion of their existing allocations of tobacco-settlement funds toward the pilot program and to develop homeless outreach and care-coordination positions within their emergency room departments.
Final approval of the pilot program will be worked out with the state, county health care agency and the county’s homeless czar.
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