LOS ANGELES, CA — Pointing to "sobering" statistics showing that the number of homeless people dying in Los Angeles County nearly doubled from 2013-18, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to deploy health care workers to encampments and shelters to assess health needs among the homeless.

Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Hilda Solis co-authored the motion calling for short-term strategies to help reverse the trend. "This report is tragic, and reflects a true state of emergency on the streets of our community," Ridley-Thomas said. "It is unconscionable and inhumane for society to continue to turn a blind eye to this plight."

Solis said the data -- released Tuesday by the Department of Public Health -- should spur others, including private sector players, to get involved. "This isn't just the county's responsibility. It's a human responsibility," Solis said.

The county's analysis of death certificates and coroner's records found that 1,047 people identified as homeless died in 2018, up from 536 in 2013. To make clear that the dramatic increase wasn't just due to a growing number of people experiencing homeless, DPH Director Barbara Ferrer told the board that the rate of mortality -- the percentage of homeless individuals dying -- had also spiked by more than one-third over the period. "Homeless (people) are in fact dying at a higher rate because they're homeless," Ferrer said.

The average age of death was 51, compared with 73 years old for the general population.

Alcohol or drug abuse was the leading cause of deaths, which accounts for 27% of the total when longer-term effects, such as cirrhosis of the liver, are considered along with overdoses. The number of overdoses increased by 50% over the five-year period.

Ferrer said roughly 25% of the people receiving substance abuse treatment from the county are homeless, but that many people on the streets still need help. The next most common cause was coronary heart disease, with some of the increase related to an aging homeless population, Ferrer said. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death among Los Angeles County residents in general.