Kansas City to spend $80,000 to isolate homeless COVID-19 patients in a hotel
Kansas City will spend $80,000 to provide hotel space for homeless residents who have symptoms of the novel coronavirus and need to quarantine themselves.
On Thursday, Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced and the City Council unanimously fast-tracked an ordinance approving a contract between the city and Satyam Corp. to provide hotel space at 1409 Admiral Blvd. That address matches the Rodeway Inn.
According to the ordinance, the block of up to 30 rooms would be available to homeless residents with symptoms of the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The move, the ordinance says, will also help preserve medical resources in Kansas City and provide space for people who don’t have a safe place to isolate. Lucas said the residents will also receive food and social welfare services during their stay, but the funds for those functions were not included in the ordinance.
At the council meeting Thursday afternoon, Lucas noted that many coronavirus patients don’t have to be hospitalized for their symptoms.
“The fear if we don’t pass an ordinance like this is that either these persons who have been infected or who are subject to quarantine will find themselves in a situation where they are continuing to go to a shelter, jeopardizing the health conditions of a number of others, or alternatively remain on the streets.”
The coronavirus pandemic poses an especially severe threat to the homeless, who are often older, have compounding medical conditions and cannot follow the guidelines of social distancing. As stores, libraries and agencies remain closed, it has become increasingly difficult for the homeless to access showers, restrooms and medical services.
Councilman Brandon Ellington, 3rd District at-large, said he has a homeless constituent who tested positive for COVID-19.
“She was sent back to her car, was not allowed to stay in the hospital or anything like that, so I think this is an ordinance that is a necessity.”
Leaders of homeless agencies and shelters across the Kansas City metro say they are working to separate beds, so that clients remain six feet away from one another. But that is challenging as agencies serve more people while lacking enough space, funding and resources.
n the past few weeks, Lucas had said the city would do more to address how to isolate homeless people who have COVID-19. The move to purchase hotel rooms follows the lead of other municipalities.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California warned in a March 25 study that the spread of coronavirus “is creating a severe and emergent health crisis for the homeless population across the United States.”
Researchers said it is “a crisis that our shelter and health systems are simply not adequately prepared to meet.”
The study showed the Kansas City metro area — including Jackson, Wyandotte and Johnson counties — would need to add more than 1,000 new shelter beds or quarantine rooms as coronavirus cases begin to peak. The study estimates the cost of adding that capacity, as well as providing isolation units for homeless individuals with coronavirus, would total about $32 million.
“The current virus, when scaffolded on top of the already present crisis of aged homelessness, as well as a myriad of other factors impacting this population, is likely to wreak havoc on this already highly vulnerable group,” the researchers wrote.
In Johnson County, the Lenexa City Council on Tuesday voted to allow a temporary winter shelter to remain open throughout the duration of the stay at home order. The shelter, operated inside a church by the nonprofit Project 1020, is the only place in Johnson County for single homeless adults to sleep or wash up.
But many argue that action is only a start. Some officials are calling on Johnson County to provide about 50 rooms for homeless residents to be isolated.
Homeless shelters and service agencies across the Kansas City area have been combining efforts, trying to serve a growing number of people experiencing homelessness or losing their jobs. Hope Faith Homeless Assistance Campus and Veterans Community Project have blocked off a portion of Virginia Avenue east of downtown to serve and feed the homeless outdoors, where it’s easier to follow social distancing guidelines.
Several organizations have been donating meals, while KC Water has been providing free water for hand-washing stations. Farmers Insurance has opened a first-aid center to provide medical checks before individuals receive meals and services.
But the agencies are still short on supplies and volunteers. They are asking for donations of medical supplies, masks, gloves, cleaning supplies, toilet paper and pre-packaged food at Veterans Community Project, 8900 Troost Ave.
Lucas’ administration has taken a series of steps intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which as of Thursday afternoon had infected more than 1,500 in Missouri and 550 in Kansas.
Along with other jurisdictions across the metro, Lucas issued a stay at home order, instructing residents to remain at home unless they are participating in “essential activities,” such as going to work at an essential business, getting food or seeking medical care or supplies.
To find out more about Kansas City’s response to the coronavirus, you can text “COVIDKC” to 888-777 or visit the city’s website at kcmo.gov/coronavirus. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information at cdc.gov/coronavirus, and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has a hotline at 877-435-8411.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 3:34 PM.
