Two things keep Dr. Will Ross up at night.
As COVID-19 has begun its rapid spread through the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region, the Washington University physician and medical school professor is worried about two populations in particular.
The first, he says, is the elderly, particularly folks in nursing homes. Already, several nursing homes have reported deaths during the coronavirus pandemic. They are breeding grounds for COVID-19, with heavy populations of people at high risk for infection.
“The second is how we respond to the unhoused,†Ross says. “We need a comprehensive regional plan for this.â€
That plan, says Ross, who is also chairman of the city’s Board of Health and one of the region’s foremost public health experts, doesn’t yet exist.
“We are woefully underprepared to address the impact of COVID-19 on the unhoused,†Ross says.
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Indeed, that was the theme Thursday afternoon as the city’s — a group of agency providers that serves the homeless and advises the city — met by Zoom video to discuss the city’s plan to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re not even at the halfway point,†said Tom Burnham, a member of the committee’s task force trying to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. “We don’t have the resources to address this. Other cities are being more proactive in creating housing for this population.â€
Where’s the city?
As the city seeks a plan for housing people who become infected and need to be quarantined, as well as those who just need a safe place to honor “stay at home†orders, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County is already a step ahead.
The county has contracted with a local motel to serve as a quarantine site for homeless people who test positive for COVID-19, and has already placed two people there. Also, the county is turning its North County Rec-Plex into a site to house people who are homeless, to keep them safe and limit the spread of the virus.
Some city social service agencies have started referring clients to the county because the city’s plans have been slow to develop.
“The city is behind the eight ball,†one provider told me.
City leaders are feeling the pressure from advocates.
In her Facebook live daily update on Wednesday, Mayor Lyda Krewson said the city has contracted with a facility to quarantine folks living on the streets or in shelters who test positive for COVID-19. Officials from Krewson’s office didn’t respond to requests for more information about those plans.
Three times during Thursday’s call with Continuum of Care members, somebody asked if a city official had joined the call, which consisted of about 50 people.
“Do we have anybody from the city on the call?â€
Silence.
“Is there anybody from the city on the call?
Nothing.
“I still don’t see anybody from the city on the call. Is anybody available?â€
About an hour and a half in, Amy Bickford, chief program manager for the city’s Department of Human Services, joined the call. She was asked for an update on contracts for quarantine space for the homeless in the city.
“I can’t give out all those details,†she said. “We’re moving as quickly as we can.â€
Not fast enough, say the various folks who work with the homeless population throughout the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region every day.
That’s not to say some steps aren’t underway.
Both Ross and Dr. Sonny Saggar, head of emergency room services at St. Alexius Hospital in south ºüÀêÊÓƵ, said the hospital, which has significant unused capacity, is under consideration as one of multiple locations to serve as a homeless shelter during the pandemic. The hospital’s bankruptcy trustees would have to approve the move. Another facility being discussed by city officials is the former Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ, which closed its doors in 2018.
One of the reasons for the need to find places even for healthy people who are homeless is that some shelters have cut back on their number of clients in order to be responsible about social distancing.
No borders
“This is a public health issue with no borders,†says Yusef Scoggin. He’s the director of family and health services in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County and chairman of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Area Regional Commission on Homelessness. According to national statistics, Scoggin says, about 40% of people who are homeless are likely to end up with COVID-19, with up to 15% of those needing to be hospitalized. That’s in the range of 400 people in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region.
The effort to limit the spread of COVID-19, he says, isn’t just about protecting a vulnerable population, but in making sure that hospitals don’t become overwhelmed.
Also, Ross says, folks who live on the streets tend not to trust society, generally. Thus, as happened with one of the first members of that community to come down with COVID-19, there is a chance they will wander away from hospitals and spread the virus to others.
That’s why he and others have been working so hard behind the scenes to elevate dealing with the unhoused community as a top city and regional priority. Ross doesn’t want to see tent cities, or tape on parking lots, as a solution. ºüÀêÊÓƵ can do better, he says.
“We have to have a plan that really provides a level of respect for the unhoused population as humans,†Ross says. “We do have the attention of civic and political leaders.â€
Meanwhile, volunteers on the front lines will keep asking questions of city officials.
“We can’t make them do anything,†Shanna Nieweg, chairman of the Continuum of Care, said on the Thursday call. “We can just keep asking and asking and asking.â€