Housing problems found to be common at safety-net community health centers
A new study lead by Dr. Travis Baggett, BHCHP’s Director of Research, found that more than 40 percent of patients treated at U.S. community health centers have a history of housing problems.
A new study finds that more than 40 percent of patients treated at U.S. community health centers have a history of housing problems. The report from investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill), appears in the Feb. 20 issue of JAMA.
“These findings suggest that we should consider screening all community health center patients for housing problems,” says study leader Travis Baggett, MD, MPH, of the MGH Department of Medicine, who is also BHCHP director of Research. “The Veterans Health Administration has set an important precedent in doing just that, and we could learn from their experience.”
