San Francisco’s ‘Shelter In Place’ Homeless COVID-19 Initiative Reduced Health Care Utilization

People experiencing homelessness (PEH) in San Francisco who participated in the “Shelter In Place” (SIP) hotel and supportive services program during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency had lower health care use than prior to the initiative. The participants’ utilization was also lower than PEH who did not participate in SIP. The number of emergency department visits and hospitalizations declined by 55.4% and 65.9% respectively among PEH who participated in SIP. Among PEH who did not participate in SIP, emergency department visits and hospitalizations declined by 24.8% and by 18.5% respectively.

The setting . . .