They say that, rather than having to wait hours at U. of C.’s emergency room, those patients get seen sooner and at less expense at neighborhood clinics and other hospitals. U. of C. even offers them a ride on a shuttle bus to other centers and sometimes provides the doctors at those facilities.

I’m not sure how the “other hospitals” aspect factors in here (I’m sure they’ve looked at the EMTALA considerations), but there is something that many ERs do called ‘triaging out’, where patients with non-urgent problems are sent to a clinic affiliated with the hospital so they don’t tie up the ERs. I’m guessing they are told they don’t have an emergent medical condition in triage after a basic medical screening exam, and told options about where to get care for their sore throat or pink eye, some of which include clinics at other hospital/facilities that serve the poor.

Maybe these patients then stick with the clinics they are referred to, some of which are associated with other hospitals.

I’d need more information, but this sounds like a good idea to me.