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Survey finds homeless in Toronto Catholic hospital
Photo by Michael Swan

Survey finds homeless in Toronto Catholic hospital

By 
  • June 14, 2013

More than 5,000 people in Toronto on an average night sleep outdoors, in church basements, on buses, in shelters and in coffee shops. But staff at St. Michael’s Hospital didn’t have to go that far to find the homeless.

A multidisciplinary team at the big, downtown Catholic hospital took part in the 2013 City of Toronto Street Needs Assessment and found 44 homeless people, including two new-born babies, sleeping in the hospital’s beds.

It’s no surprise to find the homeless in the hospital, said St. Mike’s chief medical officer and executive vice-president Dr. Doug Sinclair.

“As good as we are at living up to our name as Toronto’s urban angel, data like this is always helpful to remind us of the challenges many of our patients are living with,” said Sinclair in a press release.

In 2009, Toronto’s Street Needs Assessment found 5,086 homeless people, a small increase over the previous, 2006 survey. Most of the homeless, 78.5 per cent, were sleeping in the city’s shelter system. Just under eight per cent were sleeping outside. Almost one in six homeless Torontonians were aboriginal. As a group, the homeless are frequent users of emergency services, including hospitals, paramedics, police and the courts.

The full results of the April 17 survey this year will be available in the fall.

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