More than one-third of people who went to the emergency room for mental health conditions in 2024 spent 12 hours or more waiting for treatment, per a new report . Why it matters: These patients wait on average more than a day for inpatient beds or other treatment in Massachusetts, among the longest wait times in the nation. Any wait longer than 12 hours is referred to as boarding. Driving the news: 37.5% of patients who went to the emergency room for mental health issues in 2024 were boarded,...

Massachusetts took another bold step forward as a leader in health care in 2023 when it launched a network of community behavioral health centers across the commonwealth. As part of the state’s visionary Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform , these centers are transforming the response to mental health and substance use needs for people of all ages and walks of life. The 31 community behavioral health centers , or CBHCs, offer urgent behavioral health care, same-day evaluations and referrals,...

Advocates lobbied Thursday for legislation to boost MassHealth reimbursement rates and buoy menta l health centers, some of which they said are facing "now-or-never" decisions on whether to keep their doors open. The proposal would be a boon to the more than 400 mental health centers around Massachusetts, which are looking at big deficits and workforce shortages, Association for Behavioral Healthcare CEO Lydia Conley said ahead of the briefing. "We're hearing from some of our members that the...