Homelessness Is a Housing Problem with Dr. Margot Kushel

About this episode

Dr. Margot Kushel discusses how homelessness is primarily a housing issue rather than a healthcare problem.

Corey Dion Lewis sits down with Dr. Margot Kushel, a practicing general internist with over 30 years of experience at San Francisco General Hospital and Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, to explore why homelessness is fundamentally a housing problem—not a healthcare problem—and what this means for medical professionals and communities. Dr. Kushel shares compelling insights from her three decades of clinical practice and research, revealing how the lack of affordable housing creates impossible situations for healthcare providers trying to treat patients experiencing homelessness. From managing diabetes in a tent to storing insulin without refrigeration, she illustrates why "there is no medicine as powerful as housing." What You'll Learn: Why regions with high homelessness rates are defined by housing affordability, not mental health prevalence How structural racism and redlining created the current crisis, with Black Americans 4-5 times overrepresented in homeless populations The stark reality: only 36 affordable housing units exist for every 100 extremely low-income households in America Why Housing First policies work better than Treatment First…

People in this episode

Host: Corey Dion Lewis

Guest: Dr. Margot Kushel

Topics covered

• homelessness
• housing
• healthcare
• affordable housing
• structural racism
• Housing First policies

Keywords

• homelessness
• housing affordability
• healthcare providers
• structural racism
• Housing First
• affordable housing units
• low-income households

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, San Francisco General Hospital

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