NH, hospitals disagree on how long it should take to end ‘ER boarding’

State officials say they will need up to two years to fully eliminate wait times for inpatient mental health treatment, after a federal judge ruled New Hampshire must stop holding patients in psychiatric distress inside emergency rooms. A group of about 20 local hospitals, however, say that timeline is too slow. They want the state to end the practice, sometimes called “ER boarding,” within one year. New Hampshire has long struggled to meet the demand for mental health care, particularly for those in crisis. Some patients who are held involuntarily...