Bill Aims To Connect Patients With Mental Health Treatment

medical-59
medical-59

The Michigan House this week approved a package of five bills intended to improve mental health treatment in the state, and one of them was from state Representative Mary Whiteford of Casco Township to create a psychiatric bed registry. The system would be used by healthcare professionals to access for real-time information about the availability of in-patient beds. Whiteford says her bill came out of the Michigan House mental health task force which met around the state last year.

“As we traveled from hospital to hospital, I asked every single doctor and nurse, “Would this help?” and it was a resounding yes,” Whiteford said.

Whiteford says her bill aims to streamline hospital placement and emergency room wait times for psychiatric patients. Other bills approved this week require public schools to adopt a mental health first-aid courses for teachers, and enact time limits on psychological evaluations for defendants.