Portsmouth, NH – The number of patients in hospital emergency departments waiting for treatment in a psychiatric setting requires New Hampshire’s mental health system to work together to come up with solutions to this state-wide crisis. Portsmouth Regional Hospital, with a 30-bed Behavioral Health Unit, is doing its part to alleviate wait times by temporarily increasing its involuntary inpatient bed count by 50 percent. This increase is effective on Friday, March 10, 2017.
What
Fifty-percent increase in number of involuntary beds available for mental health patients
Who
Portsmouth Regional Hospital’s Behavioral Health Unit
When
Friday, March 10, 2017
Where
333 Borthwick Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801
Why
Emergency Rooms in the state of New Hampshire are currently dealing with prolonged wait times for some of the state’s most vulnerable and acute patients; these wait times are due to limited bed availability throughout the state.
“Portsmouth Regional Hospital has always been committed to providing access to inpatient mental health and given the current crisis in the state of New Hampshire, we felt compelled to step up for the benefit of the Seacoast and greater New Hampshire” stated Dean Carucci, Portsmouth Regional Hospital CEO.
“We recognized that this worsening crisis of patients awaiting involuntary emergency psychiatric hospitalization needed to be addressed urgently. We were compelled to do something to help patients access the life-saving treatments they need and deserve,” stated Matt Davis, M.D., medical director of Portsmouth’s Behavioral Health Services.