With nowhere to go, homeless people spend more time in Sask. hospitals, data shows

People experiencing homelessness in Saskatchewan stay in hospital far longer than other standard stays, data shows, illustrating how a lack of shelters and housing is adding strain to already overcapacity hospitals.

According to data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), people who reported experiencing homelessness in Saskatchewan from April 2022 to March 2023 stayed in hospital for an average length of 22 days, compared to a standard stay of about 7.5 days.

Across Canada, the gap is narrower: about 15.4 days for a person who reported experiencing homelessness compared to eight days for a standard stay.

Longer stays can hold up beds in a province where issues of overcapacity hospitals have prompted the Saskatchewan Health Authority to lay out capacity action plans in its two largest cities. Officials say there's still more work to do.

"Community care, community mental health care, is important for everybody, but it may be particularly important for this population," said Geoff Hynes, manager of population health at CIHI.

"It's not inappropriate visits — these folks need that care — but it's a result of not getting that care that they possibly need, in the community."

According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority, in the 2023-24 fiscal year, there were about about 800 patients with no fixed address who visited Saskatoon emergency departments. They accounted for 1,776 visits, and of those 211 led to admissions.

Several people who told CBC they were homeless shared their own stories of being in hospital for long periods because of illness or mental health concerns. They all said it was difficult finding shelter.

Gordon Taylor, executive director at The Salvation Army in Saskatoon, said those kind of stories are typical for cities he's worked in, like Saskatoon and Winnipeg, and at other Salvation Army locations across Canada.

The Salvation Army operates a 75-bed shelter in Saskatoon. Taylor said hospitals are one of the parties that regularly send people to stay there.

Historically, people were rarely turned away, he said, but it happens more frequently lately, since capacity stayed high through the winter and into the spring. Even when the shelter is not at capacity, it can't take everyone.

"In our shelter here, if there's someone being released from hospital who still needs help — for example, going to the washroom — we don't have the staffing and the ability to help with that type of thing," Taylor said.

"Someone going home who has a family member to help them, that's different."

He said the solution would be more supportive housing in the community. For now, he can't see an alternative other than hospitals for people who can't find shelter.