There are more people these days going to the emergency room for a mental health crisis and local hospitals are having trouble coping with the increase, writes Sarah Gantz for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Being in a busy emergency department is really the worst place for them to be,” said Deborah Cunningham, the vice president of behavioral health at Main Line Health

Inspection reports since 2022 show one in three safety violations at Philadelphia area hospitals involved shortcomings in mental health services.

Inadequate staffing, insufficient training and lack of proper emergency protocols were all blamed.

At Crozer Health’s Taylor Hospital, a patient with schizophrenia left the hospital without shoes and a working phone and was missing for six days.

Hospitals are working on the problem.

Main Line Health, which owns Riddle Hospital in Media, has increased training, increased services, increased the number of beds for behavioral health patients, and opened day programs for them.

Crozer Health has a 24-7 crisis center and opened an outpatient center for substance abuse and mental health disorders at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland.

It’s estimated that 22 percent of adults experience mental illness but that half don’t receive treatment.

Read more about the state of mental health services at hospitals in our region in The Philadelphia Inquirer