Patients in a mental health crisis often end up in ERs, which are ill-equipped to help

Emergency rooms are often the first places people end up during a mental health crisis. But many ERs aren’t really equipped to help. After they check in, patients can end up staying in emergency rooms for days just waiting for in-patient psychiatric treatment elsewhere. As emergency rooms see a growing number of behavioral health patients, hospital officials say resources are strained.

A version of this story ran on WABE. 

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