Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | November 22, 2021 | wbjournal.com Addressing the behavioral health crisis A new adult psychiatric ward at UMass Memorial- Harrington is helping to curb a statewide bed shortage, as mental health needs are rising F O C U S H E A L T H C A R E BY MONICA BENEVIDES WBJ Senior Staff Writer O n the last ursday in October, the behavioral health department at UMass Memorial Health - Harrington, in Webster, officially marked the opening of a new and expanded adult psychiatric unit at its campus on ompson Road. e unit replaced a 14-bed unit previously operated in Southbridge, and added 10 new beds to the depart- ment's operations. Located adjacent to a pre-existing co-occurring disorder unit, the new psychiatric space brings the Webster hospital's total capacity to 40 beds – an increase of 33%. e expansion will not only increase the number of psychiatric patients the hospital is able to take on at one time, but is part of a larger statewide effort to curtail waitlines for inpatient psychiat- ric care, which are plaguing healthcare systems across Massachusetts. "e waiting period and the number of boarders in the emergency room is, I think, greater than I've ever seen before, and with kids in particular … ere's a significant lack of resources when it comes to inpatient setting," said Greg Mirhej, vice president of behavioral health at Harrington. ese waitlines are so prevalent that, according to the Massachusetts Sen- ate, emergency department boarding – which happens while patients spend an extended period of time waiting to be admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit – has increased 400% since the COVID-19 pandemic began. But while the need for psychiatric care seems to have increased over the last year and a half, Mirhej said the need for more beds is only one piece of the puzzle. Opening the new Webster unit immediately reduced the number of boarding emergency department patients in the UMass-Harrington system, but behavioral health care is still grappling with staffing shortages and a need for comprehensive mental health care support to reduce the number of patients who require inpatient care. More than numbers Although more psychiatric beds are certainly needed in Massachusetts, Mirhej is quick to underscore it's more than just a straightforward numbers problem. Even adding hundreds of beds, he said, would likely not be a complete resolution. Healthcare workers need to TaraVista is the eighth largest inpatient behavioral health center in Central Massachusetts. The 320-bed Worcester Recovery Center & Hospital is the largest. PHOTOS/NATHAN FISKE The 108-bed TaraVista Behavioral Health Center opened in Devens in 2015, before problems around addiction and behavioral and mental health were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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