EDMONTON—Alberta has “a gravely ill homeless population, not just because of addiction and overdose, but frostbite, cardiac issues, COPD, diabetes, asthma, sepsis and infection,” said Premier Danielle Smith, and the province intends to address the issue with two innovative programs as part of health care reform.
On her weekly radio show, Your Province, Your Premier, on Jan. 14, Smith said that homeless patients receive treatment and leave hospital in stabilized condition, but are often unable to care for themselves once discharged onto the streets.
“So they’re constantly back,” she said. “We have a revolving door of the same people coming through for the same treatment, or they get entered into the acute care bed because there is no place for them to go to convalesce,” she said….