As state cuts psychiatric beds, patients have nowhere to go

So many people seeking psychiatric help flooded Quincy Medical Center’s emergency room recently, 20 beds had to be set up in a nearby conference room to handle the surge.

The hospital had nowhere to send the patients, and no room in its emergency department or on other floors. So they stayed there awaiting placement.

It’s called boarding, and it happens at hospitals throughout the state. It’s a big issue at local emergency rooms dealing with a growing mental health problem: There’s a shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds in Massachusetts, and no beds on the South Shore.

“We are stockpiling patients awaiting proper placement and follow-up care,” said state Sen. John Keenan, D-Quincy, who has been involved with the issue. “It’s not even treatment. We are just holding them.”

Mental health experts say the situation has been getting more serious, but they had never seen it as bad as it was Presidents Day weekend.

Spokeswomen for South Shore Hospital in Weymouth and Quincy Medical Center said the emergency rooms experienced an unexplained surge of mental health patients that weekend.

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