New Castle County and ChristianaCare agree to extend medical respite program services at New Castle County’s Hope Center.
ChristianaCare will continue to lease the entire 6th floor at the Hope Center which consists of 36 rooms, and use it for hospital patients ready to be discharged but are experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
"ChristianaCare doesn't kick people out to the street, said County Executive Matt Meyer. “If you have no home to go to they keep you. Of course, keeping you in the hospital is a tremendous cost for the hospital system so now, based on this partnership that we started a couple of years ago and we've now committed with ChristianaCare to continue, they have somewhere to go."
The medical respite program also frees up hospital resources for patients waiting to be admitted.
"The Hope Center is not just housing, it's housing plus a single place that our most vulnerable people can go to get a host of services to support them, and now for the foreseeable future that will include medical care," said Meyer.
The program also allows the patients to receive appropriate care and access to ChristianaCare’s on-site medical services.
ChristianaCare will still offer primary care medical services from their on-site medical office Monday through Friday providing various services including OB/GYN and pediatrics to geriatric care.
