Hallworth House Is Home to New Medical Respite Care Program
On Monday, Governor Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health & Human Services announced that Hallworth House, a former nursing home on the diocese’s campus on the East Side of Providence, is the new home of a pilot program that cares for people who are experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness and have acute injuries and illnesses. The initiative, called medical respite care, is managed by Westbay Community Action.
“For more than a year, we worked with the state to use Hallworth House for housing COVID-positive residents of the shelter system who needed a place for quarantine and recovery. This new medical respite initiative gives us another way to follow Jesus’ commandment to care for the most vulnerable people in our communities. We are very glad for this opportunity to support our neighbors and deepen our relationship with the state and with Westbay,” Bishop Nicholas Knisely said.
“People experiencing homelessness with acute medical and behavioral health conditions have unique needs that often cannot and should not be managed while living on the street or in shelters that are not equipped to facilitate recovery,” Governor Dan McKee said in a press release. “I am thankful to our team and the community partners who stepped up to help us continue building a continuum of housing supports for all.”
Under the terms of the pilot program, Hallworth House will be home to up to 20 beds available to people who are being released from hospital care and would otherwise return to a housing insecure situation. An additional 10 beds can be added as dictated by demand and funding. The medical respite care program is made possible by Rhode Island’s Medicaid waiver extension, which allows the state to test initiatives that can improve the Medicaid system.
Since 2020, Hallworth House has also housed administrative offices and provided a production kitchen and storage space for Beautiful Day, a not-for-profit organization that helps refugees adjust to life in the United States by offering paid, on-the-job training in an initiative that produces granola and coffee.