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People In Mental Health Crisis Face Long Waits In The Emergency Room For An Available Bed

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A hospital bed. (David Goldman/AP)
A hospital bed. (David Goldman/AP)

With emergency rooms overcrowded and understaffed in the coronavirus pandemic, individuals facing a mental health crisis may have to wait days before a bed is available.

Boarding — the process where patients wait in the emergency room before proper care is available, sometimes in stretchers in the hallways — is becoming more common in hospitals.

Host Lisa Mullins speaks with Dr. Seth Trueger, an emergency physician at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago and a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians.

This segment aired on February 18, 2021.

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