Bob Etebar of ETCO Homes (from left) joined John Baackes of L.A. Care, Eric Pfahler and Mike Foley of HomeAid Los Angeles, Kelly Bruno of NHF and Michael Hunn, chair of NHF’s board at April 18’s groundbreaking for NHF’s most ambitious recuperative care project to date. 

On April 18, National Health Foundation — HASC’s charitable partner — broke ground on a project to create critically-needed recuperative care beds in the Pico-Union neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles.

Unlike most recuperative care facilities or homeless shelters, the new 62-bed facility will feature semi-private versus dorm-style rooms, family-style versus cafeteria dining, and regular visiting hours for clients’ families and loved ones. There will be a community garden onsite for clients and neighbors.

“This new Pico Union facility will be unique and exemplify National Health Foundation’s mission to both humanize and localize care for those experiencing homelessness,” said National Health Foundation CEO Kelly Bruno. “Our new Pico Union facility will have home-like amenities, and the facility will be an integral part of the neighborhood. This approach should be the norm not the exception when helping those without homes recover from injury or illness.”

The Pico-Union recuperative care renovation project is a partnership between the National Health Foundation and HomeAid Los Angeles. It involves the rehabilitation of a 100-year-old sanitarium building and construction is expected be completed this fall. HomeAid is bringing the power of the building industry to the project through free and reduced-cost construction supervision, labor and materials, which will significantly reduce the overall cost of the project. ETCO Homes is serving as the project’s build captain.

Recuperative care has been shown to be significantly more cost-effective than extended hospital stays. Homeless patients use hospitals at a much higher rate than housed patients, with lengths of hospital stays twice the average. Without a place to recover, many homeless clients end up back in the emergency room within 30 days.

Recuperative care not only offsets the financial impact to hospitals, but also reduces hospital readmissions by as much as half. A hospital stay in California currently averages $3,300 per day, compared to an average of $250 per night for recuperative care.

Contact:
Cindy Monticue
(213) 538-0771
cmonticue@nhfca.org