Local hospitals saved $1.66 million after 48 residents moved into Dunn House, says doctor

When Dr. Andrew Boozary and his team at Toronto's University Health Network looked deeper into the issue, they discovered that about 100 patients accounted for more than 4,500 emergency department visits in one year.

A month-long hospital stay costs the public health system more than $60,000, he said, compared to $15,000 a month to keep a person in a provincial jail and about $6,000 to house someone in a shelter.

There had to be a better way, he thought.

Boozary and the hospital network teamed up with Fred Victor, a non-profit housing and social services organization led by a kindred spirit, CEO Keith Hambly.

A four-storey building was erected on a parking lot UHN owned next to its rehabilitation hospital on a quiet residential street in Toronto's west end. It features 51 units where residents sign long-term leases and have access to doctors, nurses, social workers and a whole host of health and social supports.

Residents began moving into Dunn House in the Parkdale neighbourhood a year ago. Now, Miles and 50 other people, many of whom came off the street or from emergency shelters, call the place home.