Gov. Baker Proposes 72 Hour Hold for Opioid Patients in Emergency Departments
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Thursday, December 17, 2015
GoLocalWorcester News Team
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is proposing to allow doctors to commit patients with substance abuse issues for up to 72 hours without a court order. However, a lack of mental health beds and services is what is hurting hospitals.
“The state and our private-sector facilities need to open more beds for those suffering with mental health conditions and addiction. The MNA has filed legislation that will establish a pilot program that will reopen beds at Taunton State Hospital for the care of patients with mental illness outside of hospital emergency departments. We also need to pass the Patient Safety Act, legislation that will require safer staffing in hospitals, including our EDs, which are severely understaffed, causing long delays in care for all types of patients," said Massachusetts Nurses Association President Donna Kelly-Williams.
Massachusetts emergency departments saw a 24 percent increase in mental health and substance abuse patients from 2010 to 2014, according to new data released by the Health Policy Commission. An earlier study conducted by the Mass legislature's Mental Health Advisory Commission found that as many as 40,000 patients a year are boarding in the state's hospital emergency departments, waiting for beds and services for hours or even several days.
“Two nurses and 10 beds were tied up with patients, who needed specialized care. Their rooms needed to be cleared of potentially dangerous equipment, they needed proper medication and, in some cases, around-the-clock observation. It requires a lot of staff time and takes nurses away from other patients in the ED," said Karen Huskins, a registered nurse who has worked in the ED at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton for 15 years.
According to the Health Policy Commission, the Metro South Region, where Huskins works, saw a 33 percent spike in behavioral health emergency departments over the last five years.
“We have seen a sharp increase in psychiatric patients coming into the emergency department. They are not only psychiatric patients; they also have substance abuse problems."
Linda Condon, an RN in the emergency department at Morton Hospital also makes the plea for more staff and more beds for mental health patients.
"We’ve seen a spike in waiting times in our emergency department. When the state closed mental health beds at Taunton State Hospital and moved them to Worcester, it did not help southeastern Massachusetts. We need more high-acuity beds like those proposed in the Taunton State Hospital pilot program, and also more long-term and transitional services. Patients are being released from short-term acute psychiatric facilities without transitional services or long-term treatment and are going right back to the emergency department to start the process all over again. We’re also understaffed. Until we safely limit how many patients a nurse can care for at one time and increase the number of beds available, patient care is going to suffer.”
Related Slideshow: #50 to #1: Doctors in Worcester That Received the Most Money from Drug Companies
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#50
Doctor: BOGDAN NEDELESCU
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $7,711
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#49
Doctor: NIKOLAOS KAKOUROS
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease
Drug Company Money: $7,787
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#48
Doctor: DANIEL TANENBAUM
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Drug Company Money: $8,430
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#47
Doctor: J.Lock
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Drug Company Money: $8,459
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#46
Doctor: PETER TOMAIOLO
Field: Other Service Providers/Specialist
Drug Company Money: $8,711
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#45
Doctor: DAVID HARLAN
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Drug Company Money: $8,734
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#44
Doctor: WALTER ETTINGER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $8,926
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#43
Doctor: STANLEY TAM
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery)
Drug Company Money: $8,993
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#42
Doctor: JAN CERNY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology
Drug Company Money: $9,004
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#41
Doctor: ROBERTO BOMPREZZI
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Psychiatry & Neurology, Neurology
Drug Company Money: $9,015
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#40
Doctor: PATRICK CONNOLLY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $9,422
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#39
Doctor: SALEEM KHANANI
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology
Drug Company Money: $10,432
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#38
Doctor: CHRISTIAN DIPAOLA
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $10,501
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#37
Doctor: KEVIN FLOYD
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
Drug Company Money: $10,521
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#36
Doctor: CHRISTOPHER VINTON
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $10,547
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#35
Doctor: MICHAEL BRADBURY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Ophthalmology
Drug Company Money: $11,285
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#34
Doctor: SPIRO KHOURY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $11,569
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#33
Doctor: CAROLINA IONETE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Psychiatry & Neurology, Neurology
Drug Company Money: $12,513
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#32
Doctor: CURUCHI ANAND
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $14,792
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#31
Doctor: CHARLES BIRBARA
Field: Other Service Providers/Specialist
Drug Company Money: $15,061
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#30
Doctor: JENNIFER PAPPALARDO
Field: Podiatric Medicine & Surgery Service Providers/Podiatrist, Foot & Ankle Surgery
Drug Company Money: $15,218
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#29
Doctor: LAWRENCE GARBER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $15,357
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#28
Doctor: THEO MEYER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease
Drug Company Money: $16,199
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#27
Doctor: JOHN WIXTED
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $16,292
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#26
Doctor: LLOYD FISHER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Pediatrics
Drug Company Money: $16,939
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#25
Doctor: SETH KATES
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Dermatology
Drug Company Money: $17,106
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#24
Doctor: WILLIAM BALCOM
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $17,189
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#23
Doctor: IRA OCKENE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease
Drug Company Money: $20,250
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#22
Doctor: ALAN ROTHMAN
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease
Drug Company Money: $21,366
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#21
Doctor: MARK PRICE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $21,649
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#20
Doctor: KRISHNA KANDARPA
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology
Drug Company Money: $22,864
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#19
Doctor: DAVID CAVE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology
Drug Company Money: $26,454
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#18
Doctor: CHRISTOPHER MACOMBER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Surgery
Drug Company Money: $27,285
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#17
Doctor: RAYMOND DUNN
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Drug Company Money: $28,671
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#16
Doctor: BONNIE WEINER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease
Drug Company Money: $28,951
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#15
Doctor: HERBERT MARKLEY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Psychiatry & Neurology, Neurology
Drug Company Money: $35,233
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#14
Doctor: SARAH CUTRONA
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $37,108
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#13
Doctor: YARON GOLDMAN
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease
Drug Company Money: $41,206
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#12
Doctor: ITALO LINFANTE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology
Drug Company Money: $63,654
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#11
Doctor: JEAN MARIE HOUGHTON
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology
Drug Company Money: $63,972
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#10
Doctor: MOHAMAD OCH
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Psychiatry & Neurology, Psychiatry
Drug Company Money: $74,245
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#9
Doctor: FREDERIK PENNINGS
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Neurological Surgery
Drug Company Money: $80,495
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#8
Doctor: JAY MARLIN
Field: Dental Providers/Dentist, Endodontics
Drug Company Money: $90,669
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#7
Doctor: BILAL PIPERDI
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology
Drug Company Money: $95,534
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#6
Doctor: GEORGE ABRAHAM
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $97,836
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#5
Doctor: JONATHAN KAY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Rheumatology
Drug Company Money: $121K
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#4
Doctor: ANDRES SCHANZER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Surgery, Vascular Surgery
Drug Company Money: $126K
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#3
Doctor: BRIAN BUSCONI
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $209K
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#2
Doctor: TARIQ MUGHAL
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology
Drug Company Money: $432K
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#1
Doctor: AJAY WAKHLOO
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology
Drug Company Money: $1.01 Million
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