Health Council sees shining example in Seaton House programs
When the Health Council of Canada, an agency funded by federal government to monitor and report on health matters, was looking for an example of sustainable, high-quality health care in action, they turned to Seaton House, a men’s shelter operated by the City of Toronto. Although it may come as a surprise to some, Seaton House has been at the forefront of delivering primary care to homeless men with chronic health conditions for close to a decade.
Manager Boris Rosolak leads health council members on a tour of Seaton House
On May 13, council members representing federal, provincial and territorial governments as well as experts and citizen representatives gathered at a downtown hotel to learn more about the remarkable model of health care that has emerged at the shelter. In her introductory remarks, Dr. Danielle Martin praised Seaton House for putting its clients at the centre of care and told council members from across the country that there was much to learn from the good work taking place there.
“If being homeless is hard enough, imagine being homeless with cancer, HIV, or uncontrollable mental illness”
Throughout the morning, council members, learned about the early evolution of health programming at Seaton House and those it was meant to serve. “If being homeless is hard enough, imagine being homeless with cancer, HIV, or uncontrollable mental illness,” said Boris Rosolak, manager of the shelter. Some 10 years ago, when Seaton House staff first reached out to St. Michael’s hospital for help, many of their clients lacked family doctors or even the health cards required for coverage. For some, a trip to the emergency department was the only health care they knew.
In a novel approach, practitioners left the hospital and went to where the patients were—The Annex, a harm reduction program run by Seaton House. In this new environment, doctors learned to work closely with shelter staff and several years later a full-fledged multi-disciplinary team comprised of physicians, psychiatrists, nurses and front-line shelter workers emerged. It was called “Fusion of Care”.
Six months after the Fusion of Care program began, 33% of clients with severe mental illness improved clinically and 45% were housed.
Results of this type of client-focused health care delivery at Seaton House have been remarkable. Annex clients reduced their emergency room visits by 84%, and their admission to detox centres by 93%. This approach also works with clients with severe mental illness. Six months after the Fusion of Care program began, 33% of clients with severe mental illness improved clinically and 45% were housed.
In the afternoon, Seaton House staff took council members on a tour of the 600-bed facility and showed them how health care and shelter care come together to support some very vulnerable clients. More than just the examination rooms, or offices filled with medical supplies and patient charts, councillors were given the opportunity to see just how integrated the supports at Seaton House really are—how housing counsellors and other frontline staff work beside doctors and nurses every day to provide the best possible care for the men who stay there.
“I’m very impressed by the dedication of you and your staff, and as a health care provider I have a great deal of admiration for the work you do.”
Clearly engaged by the type of health care they were seeing, council members took the opportunity to ask numerous questions not only about how the programs worked, but how they might be replicated. “I’m very impressed by the dedication of you and your staff,” one council member told manager Boris Rosolak, “and as a health care provider I have a great deal of admiration for the work you do.”
