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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.

Preliminary data shared with The Canadian Press show the residents experienced a 52 per cent drop in emergency department visits and a 79 per cent drop in the total length of hospital stays.

“It’s just staggering,” Boozary said. “And it’s just incredibly encouraging and validating for how we need to rethink and act on homelessness across the country.”