A new discharge facility for people who have received hospital treatment while experiencing homelessness will be up and running within months. It's hoped the new unit will help free up space in Adelaide's emergency departments as well as helping people get back on their feet.
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00:00Leanne Honeyman knows the fear insecure housing brings.
00:05I was living in my car. I was terrified every day.
00:09This facility in Adelaide CBD helped her to turn her life around.
00:14Now we repurpose for people without shelter who've been hospitalised
00:18but have nowhere to go once their treatment has finished.
00:21I did end up being in the RA, the old RA.
00:24Ended up being in there for about three months.
00:28And then having trouble being discharged
00:32because I had nowhere to be discharged to.
00:34An ongoing situation the State Government and Salvation Army
00:38are aiming to ease with the new 20-bed unit.
00:41If we don't get them into appropriate housing
00:44then people can often bounce back to hospital afterwards.
00:47This can be a stepping stone to long-term secure housing.
00:51Nearly $22 million is being spent on the scheme
00:55with residents also given access to other Salvation Army facilities and services.
01:00It's hoped the program will free up hospital beds
01:03particularly at the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth
01:05with the state's health network struggling to keep up with demand.
01:08We all know that we have patients in the Royal Adelaide Hospital
01:11that no longer need to be there
01:13because their acute phase of their illness has resolved.
01:16We will have a direct ability to bring people here
01:20to get the support that they need, to get the housing that they need
01:24and the wraparound services that they need.
01:26The same services which gave Leanne a new start.