By Padma Nagappan, California Health Care Foundation, August 25, 2021
For the better part of a decade, Barbara Cheiker made her home in squalid conditions next to a busy Northern California freeway. The hardships were unimaginable. Even as she prevailed in a hard-won battle for sobriety, Cheiker was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and various mental health crises.
Each time she was discharged from a hospital or rehabilitation center, she returned to her place without a plan or an advocate. But last year, after she was treated for a serious cut on her hand that led to a dangerous infection, things went differently.
Following discharge from the emergency room for her hand injury, Cheiker, 60, was referred to Santa Clara medical respite program, which is part of Santa Clara County’s Valley Homeless Healthcare Program (VHHP). The medical respite program provides two to four weeks of room and board in a post-acute care recuperative setting and access to comprehensive medical, social, and behavioral health services. She credits it with helping turn her life around.
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