U of A students propose specialized ICU for homeless Edmontonians

Andrea Huncar · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

With 1 palmy task nether their belt, students successful an advocacy people astatine the University of Alberta are making a caller transportation to beforehand attraction for stateless exigency country patients.

On Tuesday, Student Advocates for Public Health laid retired their imaginativeness for a specialised intensive attraction portion to dainty the increasing fig of unhoused patients who disproportionately trust connected exigency services.

The projected 24/7 installation would connection a trauma-informed, multi-disciplinary attack aimed astatine improving outcomes for unhoused radical and reducing the strain connected Alberta's health-care system.

"Let's not dainty them and thoroughfare them. Let's greet them and dainty them," said Imrose Bhullar, a nationalist wellness master's pupil and subordinate of Student Advocates for Public Health.

The team says their connection is the first of its benignant successful Canada and builds connected the occurrence of the Bridge Healing Transitional Accommodation Program projected by students from the aforesaid advocacy people successful 2017.

The Bridge Healing Transitional Accommodation Program has transferred much than 300 unhoused ER patients straight into transitional lodging since its motorboat successful 2023.

In Alberta's February budget, the program received $1.8 cardinal to proceed its work, which has besides been supported by backstage donors and the City of Edmonton.

The radical cited probe that recovered unhoused individuals trust connected exigency services astatine a complaint 8.5 times higher than the general colonisation and said having a specialized ICU for radical experiencing homelessness should beryllium the adjacent step, the radical said. 

"This situation doesn't conscionable impact unhoused individuals, it affects the full health-care system," Bhullar said.

"Health-care workers are burned out, attraction is being delayed and patients are slipping done the cracks."

'We don't person capable capacity:' ER physician

The squad recommended an attack that would link patients to a continuum of attraction done health-care providers, societal workers, lodging navigators and rehabilitation

They projected the instauration of a 90-bed installation arsenic an hold astatine the Royal Alexandra Hospital, which sees the astir visits from unhoused patients annually successful the province. 

"There has been a surge successful homelessness and substance use. We don't person capable capableness to conscionable the needs," said Dr. Robert Wittmeier, an exigency country doc based successful the Royal Alex.

"It would beryllium acold amended to bring radical to a tract similar this wherever they person accordant adept care."

Among the proposal's fans is Bryan Kenny, who overcame chronic homelessness, substance usage and intelligence unwellness to go an outreach worker.

"This task lined with bridged healing is going to adjacent that gap," said Kenney, who works with AAWEAR, a peer-support radical offering enactment to Albertans who usage oregon utilized drugs.

"[To] give the radical the indispensable assistance that they need, consciousness heard, consciousness respected, consciousness understood and loved successful immoderate cases."