One homeless person visited emergency room 292 times in five years

A striking study on emergency room usage by homeless individuals in Iceland revealed that one person sought medical attention 292 times over a five-year span. The research, conducted by Rótin, focused on individuals who utilized Reykjavik's shelters and accessed emergency services at Landspítali hospital between 2020 and 2024.

During this period, nearly 60% of the studied homeless population visited emergency rooms a total of 9,491 times. Notably, many of these visits occurred outside the operating hours of the city's emergency shelters, which close at 5 p.m. and reopen at 10 a.m.

Women accounted for 169 individuals who made 3,027 visits to the emergency department, spending an average of 7.1 hours per visit. Common reasons for their visits included mental distress, pain, infections, weakness, assault, drug intoxication, and substance abuse. Men frequently sought care for pain, mental distress, infections, or substance abuse.

The total cost for emergency room visits without hospitalization during the study period was approximately 645 million Icelandic krónur, with a significant portion linked to mental health issues. Including hospitalizations, the total cost reached about 4.6 billion krónur. Rótin suggests that investing in integrated services, low-threshold healthcare, and housing-focused solutions could enhance the quality of life for this marginalized group and lead to more efficient use of the healthcare system.

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The findings open up opportunities for the system to do better in serving this marginalized group, improve services, clarify procedures, and thereby reduce costs.