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Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, was quoted regarding an outbreak of COVID-19 in San Diego’s large congregate shelter, which has prompted medical professionals and advocates to renew calls to expand usage of hotel placements for unhoused people. Dr. Kushel noted that even shelters with intensive strategies to control the spread of coronavirus were unlikely to prevent outbreaks.

California launched Project Roomkey during the pandemic to house thousands of homeless seniors and people with medical conditions in hotels. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, spoke on NPR about how critical it is that people in these hotels stay housed.

Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, was quoted about California’s Project Roomkey and Project Homekey, including their prospects to make a lasting impact on homelessness across the state. “(Roomkey) really grabbed those who were at the highest risk of doing poorly and got them to safety,” said Dr. Kushel.

UCSF study demonstrates need for alternatives to congregate shelter arrangements. Even if shelters take extensive precautions to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks, cities may need to reduce their reliance on congregate shelters.

Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, was interviewed on KQED's Forum along with other guests providing an update on programs to help the homeless during the pandemic and what’s being done to ensure permanent solutions to the housing crisis.

Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, was interviewed about BHHI’s work with Community Health Outreach Workers and community organizations to deliver COVID-19 testing to unhoused people. “A lot of the lessons we learned will resonate very clearly, not just for COVID, but for any public health outreach, whether it’s vaccination campaigns, bringing health care services to people, or doing work on sexually transmitted infections and overdose prevention,” Dr. Kushel said.

The coronavirus pandemic is upending the Bay Area’s fight against homelessness. Many of the changes—good and bad—will outlast the pandemic, says Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, who studies the intersection of homelessness and health.

Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, was quoted about upcoming changes to hotel programs for unhoused people. With California’s Project Roomkey winding down, hotels for Bay Area residents experiencing homelessness are slated to close. Despite uncertain prospects for keeping people housed in the future, “Project Roomkey has played a huge role in decreasing the disasters in the Bay Area,” said Dr. Kushel, including slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Maria Raven, MD, Chief of Emergency Medicine at UCSF and a faculty advisor at BHHI, was quoted in this piece about a UCSF study about Project Welcome Home showing that permanent supportive housing can help keep chronically homeless people with severe health and substance-abuse issues housed. Margot Kushel, MD, coauthored the study.

An increase in San Francisco homelessness funding could sharpen focus on permanent supportive housing. The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative's Cynthia Nagendra emphasized the importance of permanent supportive housing as the centerpiece of any plan for using new funds to address homelessness.