Social Medicine at UHN
Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine
At UHN, the top 100 patients with no fixed address accounted for over 4,000 Emergency Department (ED) visits, or 5.0% of all ED visits in one year. Globally, evidence is mounting that addressing clinical symptoms alone will not meaningfully improve individual health outcomes or alleviate pressure on the health care system.
As part of Canada’s #1 hospital, UHN’s Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine is changing the way we think about health care delivery by ensuring social medicine is woven into our health care system. The Social Medicine Care Model looks at health holistically by assessing physical, mental and social needs to treat our most complex patients. UHN’s multidisciplinary team has partnered with community organizations to ensure people with lived experience of homelessness, mental health challenges and substance use are integrated throughout the entire care journey from UHN back into home communities.
We need your help to remove barriers for Canada’s most vulnerable patients and design a more equitable and efficient health care system for everyone.
Prescription for change: UHN leads Canada’s first Social Medicine Housing Initiative
Dunn House, a partnership between UHN’s Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine, the City of Toronto, United Way of Greater Toronto and Fred Victor, has been welcoming tenants since November 2024, providing safe, permanent, accessible and affordable housing to a group of UHN’s most medically and socially complex patients, who are unhoused and frequently visit the hospital’s Emergency Department. Learn more about Dunn House.
Contact information:
Afsheen Jiwani MBA, CFRE
Campaign Director, Major Gifts
647-502-7538
[email protected]
