250 S. Broadway
Los Angeles CA 90012

Los Angeles Poverty Department Presents New “Welcome to the Covid Hotel” Public Presentations and Conversations On Initiatives Aimed at Improving Healthcare for Homeless Populations
Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) is pleased to announce two new panel discussions as part of its Skid Row History Museum & Archive exhibition “Welcome to the Covid Hotel.” The current artwork and programs by LAPD reveal the innovations and success stories of the multidisciplinary team of frontline healthcare workers who ran LA County’s emergency Quarantine and Isolation (QI) medical sites during the pandemic for people without a safe place to shelter. The innovations they deployed and lessons they learned propose promising solutions to urgent issues around homelessness and access to healthcare.
The public is welcome to attend the events at Skid Row History Museum & Archive, 250 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, 90012, moderated by Clancey Cornell, a clinical social worker and member of LAPD’s archive staff whose interviews are featured in the exhibition.
COVID CONFIDENTIAL – The Nuts and Bolts of Operating a QI Site and the Impact of It Wednesday, October 16, 7 pm This presentation by Eric Espinosa, former Director of the Quarantine and Isolation Medical Shelters, unpacks the logistical details of what’s required to run a recuperative healthcare site. Espinosa’s talk reveals the financial—cost saving!—realities and lessons learned from the QI program, and the ways the QI playbook is informing efforts to improve healthcare and provide housing for our community’s most vulnerable citizens.
LAPD’s “Welcome to the Covid Hotel” artwork and programs are inspired by events that began in spring 2020 when the LA County departments of health (DMH, DPH, and DHS) collaboratively mobilized resources to ameliorate the devastation of the public health crisis on people experiencing homelessness. Makeshift QI sites were set up at various locations, including then-vacant hotels and motels. Over a two-year span, more than 10,000 people quarantined at the sites. There were very few deaths, and once released, 93% of the patients needing housing were sheltered in nursing homes, recovery programs, and transitional programs leading to permanent housing—a remarkable rate. “Welcome to the Covid Hotel” unveils the unconventional approaches that engendered this success—holistic care coordinated among typically siloed practitioners, harm reduction, and housing first practices, along with an uncommon level of interpersonal care, steeped in empathy and compassion. The exhibition recreates elements of the facilities at a motel-turned-QI site and features interviews with staff telling how their work saved lives, transformed patient care, and got people housed.
The “Welcome to the Covid Hotel” exhibition is open to the public through December 14, Thursdays-Saturdays, 2-5 pm or by appointment, [email protected]. New LAPD performances and public programs are soon to be announced.
Project research materials and public activity documentation from “Welcome to the Covid Hotel” will be preserved and made publicly available in the museum’s archive. For information, contact [email protected].