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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 589 FILED ON: 1/17/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1269
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Marc R. Pacheco
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to creating a pilot program to transfer high acuity behavioral health and dual
diagnosis patients away from overcrowded emergency departments.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Marc R. PachecoThird Bristol and PlymouthAdam Scanlon14th Bristol1/30/2023Jack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex1/30/2023Paul R. FeeneyBristol and Norfolk1/30/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/21/2023 1 of 2
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 589 FILED ON: 1/17/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1269
By Mr. Pacheco, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1269) of Marc R. Pacheco, Adam
Scanlon, Jack Patrick Lewis, Paul R. Feeney and others for legislation relative to creating a pilot
program to transfer high acuity behavioral health and dual diagnosis patients away from
overcrowded emergency departments. Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1311 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act relative to creating a pilot program to transfer high acuity behavioral health and dual
diagnosis patients away from overcrowded emergency departments.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 19 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby
2amended by adding the following sections at the end thereof:-
3 Section XX. For the purposes of this section, the term “dual diagnosis” shall mean a
4mental illness and a substance use disorder occurring simultaneously.
5 There shall be, on the campus of Taunton State Hospital, a Behavioral Health Emergency
6Department Relief Pilot Program to accept medically stable, high acuity behavioral health and
7dual diagnosis patients from emergency departments in the Southeast region. Medically stable
8patients presenting in an Emergency Department with a high acuity behavioral health condition 2 of 2
9or who have a dual diagnosis should be transferred to this pilot program if another appropriate
10setting cannot be located within four hours of admission to the emergency department. Patients
11admitted to the pilot program will be cared for until an appropriate placement is found that meets
12the patients’ needs, which shall be no more than fourteen days following admission to the pilot
13program. The program shall be operated by the department and staffed by the department
14registered nurses, psychiatrists and other staff as needed to provide appropriate care, with
15program protocols and a staffing plan to be developed during the first six months following
16passage of this legislation by a committee including the department, the department of public
17health, the national alliance on mental illness, the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the
18emergency nurses association. For the purposes of this pilot program, Taunton State Hospital
19shall be allowed to accept patients classified under Section 12 of Chapter 123 of the General
20Laws. The pilot program shall operate for a period of two years, with a report to be filed by the
21department with the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery during
22year two of the program, to evaluate the success of the program in decreasing emergency
23department overcrowding in the Southeast Region, and the quality of care provided in the
24program. The report shall be drafted by an independent entity, utilizing data from the department
25and the local hospitals in the Southeast Region.