Lawrence Memorial Hospital doesn't have the room, resources or expertise to serve as a communitywide medical detoxification center for homeless people who are intoxicated and have nowhere to stay at night.
That's the conclusion of an internal task force at LMH that studied the possibility of setting aside some inpatient beds for medical detox services in what commonly is referred to as a "wet shelter."
The hospital's board of trustees had ordered formation of the task force in response to a request, made at its Aug. 15 meeting, by representatives of the Coalition for Homeless Concerns, a Lawrence advocacy group.
The board discussed the task force's findings Wednesday during its monthly meeting at the hospital.
The task force, which included staff members from various LMH departments, found that the hospital already admits as inpatients those people who are intoxicated and have a medically diagnosable condition.
Also, intoxicated people who have nowhere to go are treated in LMH's emergency department and allowed to stay there until they're more stable a process that can take hours before being discharged.
According to statistics from the hospital's emergency department, from January through September of 2001, 296 patients were seen with a primary diagnosis of intoxication, withdrawal or detox.
Of that number: 74 (25 percent) were admitted as inpatients; 200 (67 percent) were discharged following treatment; nine were transferred to another facility; 12 left against medical advice; and one was admitted for outpatient observation.
Nobody who was intoxicated and homeless was turned away for the night, the task force found.
Lawrence doesn't have any medical detox centers or shelters where homeless people who are intoxicated can stay overnight. The Salvation Army, which operates a homeless shelter, does not admit people who fail a Breathalyzer test.
LMH will continue to study ways that it can work with Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, Douglas County Citizens Committee on Alcoholism Center and other organizations to see how gaps in the services provided to the homeless can be filled, according to Gene Meyer, the hospital's chief executive officer.
"If LMH will try to work with other groups to look for a permanent solution for the homeless people with alcohol and drug problems, and identify where the gaps are more specifically, I'll be satisfied," said Hilda Enoch, a representative of the Coalition for Homeless Concerns who attended Wednesday's board meeting.
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