This homeless man was put in a taxi to London. Here's who paid the $241 fare

A Huron County man who often uses shelters to avoid sleeping outside says the Huron Perth Health Care Alliance paid his $241.42 taxi fare to London, Ont., to free up space in a shelter where he'd been staying in Clinton.

The man told CBC News he was sent to London on the promise there would be shelter space for him, which upon arrival turned out to not be the case.

Webster shared his story to CBC News, and said people seeking shelter spaces and other services in smaller communities are often sent to London on the pretense that services are more robust in the Forest City.

“I think London is really getting ripped off on this," said Stephen Webster, who calls Huron County home but doesn't have a permanent residence. "The cab driver said they do these trips all the time."

Webster, 64, has a handful of health problems. He typically lives in the area of Blyth, about 100 kilometres north of London, and works odd jobs. When work doesn't provide a place to sleep, Webster relies on a mix of shelters and friends to take him in.

He's also at times paid $20 to rent a couch to sleep on. He's slept in vehicles and spent long winter nights sleeping inside bank machine vestibules.

"I bounce around a lot," he said.

The series of events that led to his cab trip to London started on Jan. 13 when he went to Clinton Public Hospital for treatment. He had dangerously low blood pressure and needed help for trench foot, a serious condition that often affects people who sleep outside.

His hospital treatment lasted just a few hours but with overnight lows of –15 C and nowhere to stay, Webster was given a bed in a temporary emergency shelter operated by Huron Perth Health Care Alliance. The shelter is a house located across the street from the hospital.

Webster was told he wouldn't be able to stay more than a few days in the short-term shelter known as Transition House which is set up only as temporary housing for people in crisis.

When Jan. 20 arrived, he'd been at the shelter seven days. Webster said staff told him the bed was needed for a new client and that there was no shelter space for him in Huron County. That's when Webster said he was told that a cab ride to London was all the support they could offer.

“They told me that they send a lot of people to London because London has the shelters."

Webster said he and another man who was also in need of housing agreed to be driven the 100 kilometres from Clinton to Victoria Hospital in London by cab, though neither were in need of hospital treatment.

CBC News has confirmed with a local taxi company that the transfer happened and that the $241.42 fare was paid by Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, which operates four hospitals in the area.