Abstract
It is estimated that there are 1.7 million homeless individuals in the United States; 36% are families with children under the age of 18. Due to lack of resources, homeless individuals frequent emergency departments for immediate health care needs. The aim of this study was to examine a homeless population who visited an Albuquerque area hospital at any time during a 3-year time period. A comparison of demographic characteristics as well as visit/hospitalization characteristics between two populations was analyzed; homeless individuals who had a 30-day readmission compared to those that did not have a 30-day readmission.