Shelter Health Network Information

We aim to serve people living in Hamilton who have no continuous primary care provider, who are homeless or marginally housed and who have complex health and social needs. Our clients are individuals who reside in or have contact with specific agencies that provide shelter. Typically the individuals who use these services are experiencing absolute or relative homelessness. This includes those who are literally living on the streets or in shelters, in addition to those who face eviction and lack the resources to obtain alternate housing and those who live in housing that is considered substandard (usually referred to as 'relative' homelessness). We bring health care and shelter together by providing health care within transitional housing programs. Case managers, social workers, nurses, family physicians and psychiatrists provide services to clients within shelters and other types of transitional housing. We help people move easily from acute care hospitals or from living on the street to our within our shelters. When their lives have become more stable, we help them to receive ongoing health care from community family physicians.