Giving homeless COVID-19 patients a free hotel room for their quarantine and recovery pays huge health dividends for the entire community, according to a new study out of San Francisco.

Only 4% of homeless folks transferred from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital to a participating hotel wound up back in the hospital with worsened COVID-19 symptoms, the researchers said in the report published online March 2 in JAMA Network Open.

That helped San Francisco hospitals save beds for severe cases of COVID-19 and other life-threatening illnesses, and also prevented further spread of the coronavirus among the city’s homeless population, said lead researcher Dr. Hemal Kanzaria. He is medical director of care coordination at Zuckerberg San Francisco General.