NYC Health + Hospitals on August 7, 2024 announced that over 1,200 patients and their families found housing through its Housing for Health initiative. Patients experiencing homelessness were referred to the program as part of their healthcare at NYC Health + Hospitals. Patients are supported in gathering key documents, filling out paperwork to apply for housing, identifying housing opportunities that they qualify for, visiting the apartment, and transitioning into permanent housing. Patients who are housed through Housing for Health are placed in affordable or supportive housing and pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent. They live in all five boroughs and are connected to the health system for their healthcare. Housing for Health identifies patients through referrals from their NYC Health + Hospitals care providers, including MetroPlusHealth, the health system’s managed care organization, and the initiative’s medical respite program.
The program will create over 650 new affordable homes on hospital land, supporting connections to healthcare services through proximity to care sites. In the coming year, the Comunilife Throop Residence in Brooklyn on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull will be complete and ready for occupancy. Within the next year, Just Home in the Bronx on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, 1727 Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, and River Commons at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Morrisania in the Bronx will commence construction.
“Having a home is crucial to the good health of our patients,” says NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “We treat the whole person, and housing is a great prescription for myriad health conditions. We are grateful to all of our partners, public and private, who support our patients on their journey home.”
