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?:abstract
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Background: As COVID-19 surged in people experiencing homelessness, leaders at Boston Medical Center (BMC), New England\'s largest safety-net hospital, developed a program to care for them Aim: Provide an opportunity for COVID-infected people experiencing homelessness to isolate and receive care until no longer contagious Setting: A decommissioned hospital building Participants: COVID-infected people experiencing homelessness Program Description: Care was provided by physician volunteers and furloughed staff Care focused on allowing isolation, managing COVID-19 symptoms, harm-reduction interventions, and addressing problems related to substance use and mental illness Program evaluation: Among 226 patients who received care, 65% were referred from BMC Five percent were transferred to the hospital for a complication that appeared COVID-related There were no deaths, but 7 patients had non-fatal overdoses Seventy-nine % had at least one diagnosis of mental illness, and 42% reported actively using at least one substance at the time of admission Thirty % had at least one mental health diagnosis plus active substance use Discussion: This hospital-based COVID Recuperation Unit was rapidly deployed, provided safe isolation for 226 patients over 8 weeks, treated frequent SUD and mental illness, and helped prevent the hospital\'s acute-care bed capacity from being overwhelmed during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic
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