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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 771 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1988 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Patricia A. Haddad |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to creating a pilot program to transfer high acuity behavioral health and dual |
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| 13 | 13 | | diagnosis patients away from overcrowded emergency departments. |
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| 14 | 14 | | _______________ |
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| 15 | 15 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 16 | 16 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Patricia A. Haddad5th Bristol1/17/2023David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester2/8/2023James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/8/2023Adam Scanlon14th Bristol2/8/2023Jack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex2/8/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire2/8/2023James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/8/2023Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/8/2023Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex2/8/2023Jon Santiago9th Suffolk2/8/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester3/7/2023Denise C. Garlick13th Norfolk3/7/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 771 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1988 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Representative Haddad of Somerset, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1988) of |
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| 20 | 20 | | Patricia A. Haddad and others relative to creating a pilot program to transfer high acuity |
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| 21 | 21 | | behavioral health and dual diagnosis patients away from overcrowded emergency departments. |
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| 22 | 22 | | Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. |
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| 23 | 23 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 2099 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 25 | 25 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 29 | 29 | | _______________ |
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| 30 | 30 | | An Act relative to creating a pilot program to transfer high acuity behavioral health and dual |
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| 31 | 31 | | diagnosis patients away from overcrowded emergency departments. |
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| 32 | 32 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 33 | 33 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 34 | 34 | | 1 Chapter 19 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 35 | 35 | | 2amended by adding the following sections at the end thereof: - |
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| 36 | 36 | | 3 Section XX. For the purposes of this section, the term “dual diagnosis” shall mean a |
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| 37 | 37 | | 4mental illness and a substance abuse problem occurring simultaneously. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 5 There shall be, on the campus of Taunton State Hospital, a Behavioral Health Emergency |
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| 39 | 39 | | 6Department Relief Pilot Program to accept medically stable, high acuity behavioral health and |
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| 40 | 40 | | 7dual diagnosis patients from emergency departments in the Southeast region. Medically stable |
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| 41 | 41 | | 8patients presenting in an Emergency Department with a high acuity behavioral health condition 2 of 2 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 9or who have a dual diagnosis should be transferred to this pilot program if another appropriate |
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| 43 | 43 | | 10setting cannot be located within four hours of admission to the emergency department. Patients |
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| 44 | 44 | | 11admitted to the pilot program will be cared for until an appropriate placement is found that meets |
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| 45 | 45 | | 12the patients’ needs, which shall be no more than fourteen days following admission to the pilot |
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| 46 | 46 | | 13program. The program shall be operated by the department and staffed by the department |
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| 47 | 47 | | 14registered nurses, psychiatrists and other staff as needed to provide appropriate care, with |
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| 48 | 48 | | 15program protocols and a staffing plan to be developed during the first six months following |
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| 49 | 49 | | 16passage of this legislation by a committee including the department, the department of public |
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| 50 | 50 | | 17health, the national alliance on mental illness, the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the |
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| 51 | 51 | | 18emergency nurses association. For the purposes of this pilot program, Taunton State Hospital |
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| 52 | 52 | | 19shall be allowed to accept patients classified under Section 12 of Chapter 123 of the General |
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| 53 | 53 | | 20Laws. The pilot program shall operate for a period of two years, with a report to be filed by the |
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| 54 | 54 | | 21department with the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery during |
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| 55 | 55 | | 22year two of the program, to evaluate the success of the program in decreasing emergency |
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| 56 | 56 | | 23department overcrowding in the Southeast Region, and the quality of care provided in the |
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| 57 | 57 | | 24program. The report shall be drafted by an independent entity, utilizing data from the department |
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| 58 | 58 | | 25and the local hospitals in the Southeast Region. |
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