WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It's a problem officials at Tenet Health, known locally as the Palm Beach Health Network, say happens all too often: a patient is discharged from the hospital and has no place to go.
Thanks to a new partnership between Tenet and the Salvation Army, 24 dedicated beds at the Salvation Army's Center of Hope in West Palm Beach are dedicated to addressing that need.
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"There's a need for safe transitions of care for our patients into the community. And a lot of times, they don't really need to be in the hospital anymore," Melissa Christopher, the market director for case management at Tenet, said. "But they do need medical care and oversight for a period of time before they can go be independent again."
Without a partnership like this one, Christopher said a patient would remain in the hospital, unnecessarily occupying bed space and vulnerable to getting sick again.
According to Seneica Blair Hall, the director of program services for the Salvation Army in Palm Beach County, hospital staff will screen patients before taking them to the Salvation Army.
"They have to be sick, for one, they cannot be on the sex offender registry, or they cannot have any open warrants," Blair Hall said.
Once there, the patients will have access to ongoing medical care from visiting hospital staff, along with access to the variety of services the Salvation Army provides.
"We offer additional services like case management, life skills, financial literacy, recreational activities, so when they're here, they get a holistic, client-centered approach therapy as well," Blair Hall said. "It's not just about a bed."
"Getting (patients) into the community is really the priority," Christopher added. “And a lot of times they want to get back to their life also."
Of the 24 beds, Blair Hall said five of them, along with a separate living space, are dedicated for female patients.
"We have had instances where we've received referrals and the beds are full," Blair Hall said. "Tenet has accommodated by paying for an extra bed, so we're grateful for that, and I'm pretty sure the clients are, too."
She said the program has so far helped about 22 patients since launching last summer.
Christopher said she is working on forming additional partnerships in the community to grow the program and meet the needs of indigent patients.
