A Shortage Of Mental Health Treatment Beds Can Trap Kids In ...

After experiencing a suicidal crisis earlier this year, Melinda, a Massachusetts 13-year-old, was forced to remain 17 days in the local hospital's emergency room while she waited for a space to open up at a psychiatric treatment facility. After experiencing a suicidal crisis earlier this year, Melinda, a Massachusetts 13-year-old, was forced to remain 17 days in the local hospital's emergency room while she waited for a space to open up at a psychiatric treatment facility. There are no current nationwide mental health boarding numbers."This is really unlike anything we've ever seen before, and it doesn't show any signs of abating," says Lisa Lambert, executive director of Parent/Professional Advocacy League, which pushes for more mental health care for children.Melinda spent her first 10 days in a hospital lecture hall with a dozen other children, on gurneys, separated by curtains because the emergency room had run out of space. For days on end, Melinda sat and slept in this small, windowless room off the ER, waiting for a spot in a hospital psychiatric care unit to open up. For days on end, Melinda sat and slept in this small, windowless room off the ER, waiting for a spot in a hospital psychiatric care unit to open up. Pam works two jobs, but she visited Melinda every day, bringing a change of clothes, a new book or something special to eat."Some days I sit and cry before I get out of the car, just to get it out of my system, so I don't cry in front of her," Pam said in her diary entry that day.Some hospitals say they can't afford to care for patients with acute mental health problems because insurance reimbursements don't cover costs. But emergency rooms are still flooded with psychiatric patients who are in limbo, boarding there."I never thought we'd be here this long," says Pam.At the nurses station, Pam was told it could be two more weeks before there would be an opening at an appropriate hospital.In Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker's administration says it has a plan that will keep children out of ERs and reduce the need for inpatient care by providing more preventive and community-based services.