Kaiser Permanente in the Northwest is funding a $5.1 million project with a goal of housing 300 homeless, medically vulnerable seniors in the Portland metropolitan area by the end of 2020.
This initiative is modeled on Kaiser Permanente’s partnership in Oakland, Calif., that housed 515 seniors during 2019.
The healthcare organization’s investment in the Metro 300 initiative will also catalyze the new Regional Supportive Housing Impact Fund (RSHIF), which will seek to make funding for housing available more quickly and efficiently. The RSHIF, which will pool contributions from health system, philanthropy, and business partners, will be administered by Health Share of Oregon, a coordinated care organization that manages the state’s Medicaid resources for the Portland metro region. With Health Share as the lead entity, the RSHIF will combine philanthropic dollars with Medicaid funds and deploy them to increase the availability of affordable housing with services and to support housing stability for people with complex health needs.
Health Share, as administrator of the RSHIF, will allocate the Kaiser Permanente funding to housing agencies in each county, and the agencies will deploy this flexible resource to quickly house a total of 300 homeless people. To qualify for the Metro 300 funding, individuals will have one or more disabling conditions and/or will be referred from one or more systems of care or institutions, such as recuperative care programs, assertive community treatment, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, coordinated entry/coordinated access waitlists, federally qualified health centers, or warming shelters.
The counties will collaborate with a network of providers to serve the 300 seniors through an “anything necessary” approach that includes housing navigation, move-in and rental assistance, and supportive services to ensure ongoing permanent housing stability. The counties will track a by-name list of people served, and Health Share will analyze health utilization and outcomes as part of an evaluation of the project’s impact.
Partners in the RSHIF include:
- Cambia Health Foundation
- CareOregon
- Central City Concern
- Collins Foundation
- Health Share of Oregon
- Kaiser Permanente
- Legacy Health
- Meyer Memorial Trust
- OHSU (and Adventist, an OHSU partner)
- Oregon Community Foundation
- Portland Business Alliance
- Providence Health & Services
“Without a safe, stable place to call home, it’s nearly impossible to focus on basic health and medical needs,” said Ruth Williams-Brinkley, regional president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals of the Northwest, in a statement. “This is especially true for our seniors, who are often dealing with chronic diseases and other complex health issues. Kaiser Permanente’s mission is to improve the health of the communities we serve, which is why we’re advancing bold ideas to reduce homelessness.”
In 2019 Kaiser Permanente launched a social health network in Oregon and Southwest Washington that is creating connections between healthcare providers and social services agencies to address pressing social needs such as housing, food, safety, transportation and utilities.
