Emergency department patients continue to face long wait times in Massachusetts, research shows

A report from the Health Policy Commission reveals that policies made in 2022 did little to relieve long wait times for behavioral health patients in Massachusetts emergency rooms.

By Madalyn Jimiera

New state research has revealed that hospital patients are continuing to experience long waits in Massachusetts emergency departments, despite efforts in the past two years to combat these vital hours lost. An in-development plan from the Health Policy Commission showed that nearly 39 percent of behavioral health-related emergency department visits lasted over 12 hours between January and May of 2024. 

“This issue of hospital capacity is absolutely front of mind, not only to the HPC, but to many other state government agencies and the public,” said HPC Executive Director David Seltz. 

In 2022, the boarding crisis was one of the root factors that led to widespread mental health legislation that eliminated the prior need for mental health acute treatment before admission and expedited the review and stabilization process of patients 18 and younger in the emergency department. 

Today, behavioral health patients are waiting longer as hospitals struggle with capacity issues from longer and more demanding patient stays. The data shows an almost 5% jump in hospital stays that lasted longer than 30 days between 2016 and 2023.

Later this year, the full HPC report will be published, allowing lawmakers to evaluate the boarding crisis and necessary policy changes. As part of her spending plan, Gov. Maura Healey proposed slashing the number of case managers at the Department of Mental Health from 340 to 170, which some argue will prevent thousands from accessing mental health services and stimulate the crisis.