A federal judge has again given the state more time to end its practice of holding mental health patients in emergency departments for prolonged periods. For over a decade, people held involuntarily for mental health treatment have faced lengthy waits in the emergency room – often days or longer – before they’re transferred to an appropriate inpatient facility, because the state has too few psychiatric beds. Last year, Judge Landya B.
McCafferty ordered the state to end so-called ER boarding by May 2024, saying those patients should not spend more than six hours in the ER before getting into treatment. This spring, McCafferty extended the original deadline through December 2024 when the state said it needed more time to comply. Last month, McCafferty again pushed that deadline back, giving the state until the end of next March.
McCafferty’s original court order came about after litigation from New Hampshire’s hospitals. In a statement this week, the New Hampshire Hospital Association said it agreed to the latest deadline extension because the state is making progress. “In light of the progress achieved and the work that continues, as well as our belief that the ED boarding crisis must end in order to provide our patients and their families with the care they need and deserve when in acute psychiatric crisis, we agreed to an extension of the compliance deadline into next year,” Steve Ahnen, the association’s president, said in the statement.
The state has rolle.
