Congratulations to the newest class of NIMRC Certified medical respite care programs!
The National Institute for Medical Respite Care (NIMRC) is proud to recognize 26 medical respite care programs across nine states that completed the NIMRC Certification process this summer. Each of these programs spent six months demonstrating, in detail and with evidence, that the care they provide aligns with the Guiding Principles and Standards for Medical Respite Care.
Certification is voluntary, and it is not easy. Programs complete a self-assessment, gather documentation, meet with NIMRC specialists, host a site visit, and engage the people they serve throughout. That work takes real staff time on top of the daily work of caring for people who are recovering from illness or injury while experiencing homelessness. These teams chose to do it anyway — because a shared, national standard of quality makes the whole field stronger.
Certification is valid for three years, with an annual verification. Please join us in celebrating these programs:
California
- Encompass Recuperative Care
Encompass Housing — Long Beach - Gregory Bunker Care Transition Center of Excellence
WellSpace Health, Inc. — Sacramento - Hope Respite Care
Mission Merced, Incorporated — Merced - Horizon Recuperative Care Los Angeles
Horizon Centers — Los Angeles - Horizon Recuperative Care San Diego
Horizon Centers — San Diego - Horizon Recuperative Care San Gabriel Valley
Horizon Centers — El Monte - Lassar Health and Wellness Center
Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) — Petaluma - PATH Recuperative Care
PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) — San Diego - Rooted Life Recuperative Care
Rooted Life — San Diego - San Francisco Medical Respite
San Francisco Department of Public Health — San Francisco
Hawaiʻi
- Hale Hoʻola
Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center, LLC — Wailuku - Health Services – Integrated Care Hub (ICH)
HOPE Services Hawaiʻi, Inc. — Hilo - Kupanaha Medical Respite
Project Vision Hawaiʻi — Wailuku - Pūlama Ola Kauaʻi
Project Vision Hawaiʻi — Līhuʻe
Illinois
- RISE Center of Cook County
Housing Forward — Oak Park - Sojourner House Medical Respite
Housing Forward — Oak Park
Indiana
- LTHC Homeless Services Medical Respite Program
LTHC Homeless Services — Lafayette
Massachusetts
- Barbara McInnis House
Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program — Boston - Deborah Smith Walsh Recuperative Care Program
Lynn Community Health Center — Lynn
Oregon
- Central City Concern Recuperative Care Program
Central City Concern — Portland
Tennessee
- Welcome Home of Chattanooga Hospice and Cancer Respite
Welcome Home of Chattanooga — Chattanooga
Utah
- Medically Vulnerable People Program
Fourth Street Clinic & The Road Home — Salt Lake City
Washington
- Drexel House Respite
Catholic Community Services of Western Washington — Olympia - Hope House Respite Center
Volunteers of America Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho — Spokane - Nativity House Respite
Catholic Community Services of Western Washington — Tacoma - Restorative Experience for a Safer Transition (REST)
Interfaith Works Homeless Services — Olympia
A growing national network
With this group, NIMRC has now certified 61 medical respite care programs in 26 states, representing more than 2,040 beds that provide safe, high-quality healing environments for people experiencing homelessness. You can browse every certified program on our Find a Certified Program page.
Thanks to sponsorship from the California Health Care Foundation, CommonSpirit Health, and Kaiser Permanente, there is currently no cost for programs to participate in NIMRC Certification.
Is your program ready?
If your medical respite care program has been operating for at least one year and has a current profile in the Medical Respite Care Directory, you may be ready to begin the journey toward certification. Visit our NIMRC Certification page to learn how the process works, what it asks of your team, and when the next application window opens.
“We have learned so much in this process and our recuperative care program is absolutely better and stronger because of it!”
– NIMRC Certified Medical Respite Program
What is NIMRC?
The National Institute for Medical Respite Care (NIMRC) is a special initiative of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, and the first national institute dedicated to advancing best practices, expert services, and state-of-the-field knowledge in medical respite care (also known as recuperative care). NIMRC provides training and technical assistance, community-based research, policy and advocacy support, and the national certification process for medical respite care programs — so that people experiencing homelessness have a safe place to rest, recover, and heal.
