The Oaklandside | A Aziz
When Sophia DaRosa Baptista works with patients receiving cardiac care at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, concerns around housing come up frequently…. Baptista, a medical social worker, generally doesn’t have much to offer. She can refer them to a waitlist for an affordable apartment, but that process can take years. Or she can send them to a family homeless shelter, but those programs sometimes deny children who have medical needs out of liability concerns, she said. But a new joint program between the hospital, the Oakland Housing Authority, and the Alameda Alliance for Health insurance plan promises to provide 50 patient families with a secure place to live.