Emergency room patients needing mental health care were transferred to other facilities six times more often than patients needing other services, and they waited longer to be treated or moved, a new study found.
“This study provides data showing that ERs are the de facto dumping ground for psychiatric patients,” senior author Dr. Renee Hsia told Reuters Health.
“Our goal in reporting this is to provide data to the public and policymakers so that they look at it squarely in the face and decide if it's acceptable or if it's something that needs to be changed,” said Hsia, who is a professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
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