Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul pointed to New York’s long waits for psychiatric hospital beds as a reason to spend $1 billion from the state budget to overhaul the state’s mental health care system.
Some New Yorkers have reported being stuck for days waiting in emergency rooms before getting the proper level of mental health care. But state officials could not provide further details about average wait times for psychiatric beds because they don’t track that information, USA TODAY Network found.
In other words, Hochul’s administration is planning to spend tax dollars without key details about which communities need the most help.
In response to questions about the issue, state officials said they plan to create a “new reporting system, which will increase accountability and oversight to ensure consistent and accurate hospital reporting” on inpatient psychiatric bed wait times.
Federal data, however, tracks the time mental health patients spent in New York emergency departments per visit, which offers some insights into the severity of the problem.
On average, New York psychiatric patients spent five and half hours in emergency rooms per visit in 2021. Some of the longest waits across the Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, Southern Tier, and Mohawk Valley stretched up to 12 hours, the data show.
Further, New York ranked 10th-worst nationally in terms of longest emergency room wait times for mental health patients.
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To improve understanding of the current mental health needs in New York, USA TODAY Network reviewed federal data for hospitals across the Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley.
What follows are is the average time mental health patients spent in the emergency department before leaving from the visit. It represents minutes and the lower the number the shorter the wait.
Finger Lakes
F.F. Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua: 192
Geneva General Hospital: 382
IRA Davenport Memorial Hospital in Bath: 236
Rochester General Hospital: 394
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital in Penn Yan: 168
Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester: 218
Unity Hospital in Rochester: 308
Wyoming County Community Hospital in Warsaw: 288
Hudson Valley
Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis: 254
Columbia Memorial Hospital in 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 Nyack Hospital: 389
Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck: 111
Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco: 284
Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow: 152
Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel: 194
St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers: 512
St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh: 212
Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla: 241
White Plains Hospital: 224
Southern Tier
Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira: 711
Aurelia Osborn Fox Memorial Hospital: 239
Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca: 372
Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich: 150
Corning Hospital: 331
St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell: 164
United Health Services Hospital in Binghamton: 486
Mohawk Valley
Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare in New Hartford: 584
Rome Memorial Hospital: 248
St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Utica: 329
