A new housing model led by Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN) is transforming lives and saving millions in health care costs, as preliminary data show residents’ emergency room visits have dropped by more than 50 per cent within a year of moving in.
For Jason Miles, 44, the change has been nothing short of miraculous. A decade spent cycling between prison, the streets, and hospital emergency rooms left him hardened and hopeless. “I got up every day thinking that day was going to be my last,” he recalled. “Today is the day I overdose. Today is the day one of those bullets finally hits me. I didn’t think there was a future.”
That changed when Miles moved into Dunn House, a 51-unit building in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood created through a partnership between UHN and the non-profit Fred Victor. Residents sign long-term leases and have 24-hour access to nurses, doctors, social workers, food, and community supports. For Miles, who has been sober for 22 months, it feels like “winning the lottery.”
The four-storey modular building was erected on a former parking lot beside UHN’s rehabilitation hospital as part of the federal Rapid Housing Initiative, with funding support from the City of Toronto, the province, and United Way. It’s designed for people experiencing chronic homelessness and high health-care use — the so-called “frequent flyers” of the health system.
Before moving in, 48 residents tracked by UHN, the University of Toronto, and Harvard accounted for 1,837 ER visits in one year. After a year at Dunn House, those visits fell by 52 per cent, and total hospital stay lengths dropped 79 per cent. The economic impact is significant: hospitals saved roughly $1.66 million in inpatient costs and $413,000 in reduced ER visits.
“It’s just staggering,” said Dr. Andrew Boozary, executive director of UHN’s social medicine program. “It validates how we need to rethink and act on homelessness across the country. Some have said we can’t afford housing for all, but I think the real question is: how can we afford the status quo?”
The monthly cost to house one resident at Dunn House is $4,000 — far less than the $60,000 monthly cost of a hospital stay, $15,000 in jail, or $6,000 in a shelter.
For residents, the benefits go beyond numbers. Michelle Walda, who became homeless after a devastating motorcycle accident, said living at Dunn House is “a dream come true.” Matthew James Lihou, who struggles with diabetes and methamphetamine addiction, said for the first time in years, he feels like “a normal person again.”
“This can be rolled out across Toronto and Canada and built in relatively quick order,” said Fred Victor CEO Keith Hambly. “This is one real solution to the homelessness crisis.”
For Miles, it’s simple: “This place has given me the gift of being able to live — and of actually having a life worth living.”