BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Hospitals across Vermont are struggling to handle the mental health care crisis. Since the state hospital in Waterbury closed after Irene, others are seeing more patients who need care.
The emergency department at Fletcher Allen has seen 60,000 patients in each of the last two years, much more than it's used to taking. The increase in mental health patients is creating a log jam and with limited beds the hospital is facing a serious problem it's not sure how to handle.
"The only thing predictable in an emergency department is the unpredictable nature of what's coming in your door," Nurse Manager of the ER Kristin Baker said.
Doctors and nurses can't foresee the problems thousands of patients will have when they walk in their doors at Fletcher Allen. Many of them are mental health patients that the hospital doesn't have resources to treat.
"The inpatient psychiatric unit has had to hire immense numbers of mental health techs and nurses and psychiatrists to handle the demand," Baker said.
They've hired more staff but can't get more space and the influx of psychiatric patients has clogged up the speed of emergency treatment for everyone. Many mental health patients are waiting extra time to get a bed in the hospital while they're being treated in the emergency department.
"There isn't any more wiggle room. We have patients staying in our emergency department up to forty eight hours," Baker said.
The staff at Fletcher Allen is waiting too. The state has plans to build a 25 bed hospital in Berlin and smaller facilities across the state. But the hospital is probably a year away from being up and running.
"What needs to happen is a new mental health facility needs to be opened. Sooner rather than later," Baker said.
Fletcher Allen has two psychiatric wards, one of which normally remains locked for safety concerns. But with the increase in mental health patients both wards are now locked and the hospital is running out of time and space to deal with the issue.
