Welcome House, Inc., in partnership with St. Elizabeth Healthcare will open a medical respite program Monday at The Pavilion, formerly the old St. Elizabeth North location in Covington (401 E. 20th St, Suite 101).
Welcome House, Inc.’s mission is to provide a continuum of services that take the people served from housing uncertainty to housing stability. By expanding programming to those who are not only experiencing homelessness, but also trying to recover from medical issues will help keep our most vulnerable neighbors off the streets and give them the ability to heal.
“We have been providing medical street outreach since 2017,” explains Samantha Stewart, MSN, FNP-C, Welcome House Street Outreach NP. “The partnership between St. Elizabeth Healthcare and Welcome House to create a medical respite center seems like the most natural progression.”
Welcome House, Inc. provided services to over 4,600 individuals across all programs in 2021.
“There are more and more individuals that are in desperate need of respite medical care,” says Stewart. “They all need a place to rest and heal, doing this while living on the streets is almost impossible.”
Welcome House, Inc. and St. Elizabeth Healthcare strived to create a program that would be able to assist those in the most need. All participants in the medical respite program must meet basic eligibility requirements including but not limited to verified homeless status, referral from St. Elizabeth, and meet the Welcome House’s admission criteria from a medical perspective.
“St. Elizabeth Healthcare is proud to partner with the Welcome House to serve the immediate health needs of homeless individuals who otherwise would not have access to these resources,” said Garren Colvin, President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Elizabeth Healthcare. “Having this medical respite program will allow the patients to recover fully and to connect individuals to community resources for ongoing and follow-up care.”
“The St Elizabeth Care Coordination team is excited about this resource being available in our community. We often see patients who would benefit from additional support to help promote their recovery process.” says Wendie Parrott, Director of Care Coordination. “We believe that this collaboration in conjunction with Welcome House’s service coordination and outreach services will positively impact the lives of individuals in our community.”
The ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 11 a.m. on Monday.
