Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul pointed to long waits for beds in New York’s psychiatric hospitals as a reason for spending $1 billion from the state budget to overhaul the state’s mental health system.
Some New Yorkers have reported waiting days in emergency rooms before receiving an adequate level of mental health care. Couldn’t. They don’t track that information.
In other words, the Ho-Chol government plans to spend taxpayers’ money without critical details about which communities are most in need.
In response to questions about the issue, state officials will create a “new reporting system that enhances accountability and oversight to ensure consistent and accurate hospital reporting” of inpatient psychiatric bed wait times. Said it was planned.
Federal data, however, tracks the time mental health patients spend per visit in New York’s emergency departments, providing insight into the severity of the problem.
On average, New York psychiatric patients spent five and a half hours in the emergency room per visit in 2021. According to data, he had the longest wait time of 12 hours at Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley.
Additionally, New York ranked 10th worst in the nation for the longest emergency room wait times for mental health patients.
Politics: Inside NY’s mental health crisis: Families feel abandoned. can you fix it?
How long do you wait for a mental health ER in New York?
The USA TODAY Network examined federal data from hospitals across the Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, Southern Tier, and Mohawk Valleys to better understand current mental health needs in New York City.
Below are the average hours spent in the emergency department by mental health patients before leaving the visit. It represents minutes, the lower the number, the shorter the waiting time.
Finger Lakes
FF Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua: 192
Geneva General Hospital: 382
IRA Bath Davenport Memorial Hospital: 236
Rochester General Hospital: 394
Penyang Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital: 168
Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester: 218
Unity Hospitals of Rochester: 308
Wyoming County Community Hospital in Warsaw: 288
Hudson Valley
Bonsecour Community Hospital in Port Jervis: 254
Columbia Memorial Hospital on Hudson: 464
Garnet Health Medical Center: 298
Good Samaritan Hospital of Suffern: 285
HealthAlliance Hospital Mary’s Ave. Campus: 426
Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital: 388
Montefiore New Rochelle: 246
Montefiore Nac Hospital: 389
Northern Dutchess Hospital Rhinebeck: 111
Northern Westchester Hospital, Mount Kisco: 284
Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow: 152
Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel: 194
St. Joseph Medical Center, Yonkers: 512
St Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, Newburgh: 212
Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla: 241
White Plains Hospital: 224
Southern Tier
Arnott Ogden Medical Center in Elmira: 711
Aurelia Osborne Fox Memorial Hospital: 239
Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca: 372
Chenango Memorial Hospital, Norwich: 150
Corning Hospital: 331
St James Mercy Hospital, Hornell: 164
United Health Services Hospitals of Binghamton: 486
Mohawk Valley
Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare in New Hartford: 584
Rome Memorial Hospital: 248
St. Elizabeth of Utica Medical Center: 329
