On any given day, 20 to 60 patients statewide are waiting for transportation to leave the hospital, said Adam Delmolino, senior director of virtual care and clinical affairs for the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association. These include behavioral health patients and medical patients. But for patients with behavioral health issues, the problem can be especially acute because the statewide psychiatric admissions system means patients can be sent far away when a bed becomes available. If they can’t get there, the bed can be given to someone else.

David Matteodo, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Behavioral Health Systems, said it typically takes three to eight hours to transport a patient from the hospital to an inpatient treatment facility, but a hospital association report suggests eight hours is the minimum time for patients to be transferred. Related delays are expected. This is a problem for psychiatric patients whose care is delayed and others who seek emergency hospital care and need that bed.

In January, South Shore Hospital added a new vehicle to its in-house transportation fleet to ease bottlenecks: a Chevy Tahoe refurbished to transport behavioral health patients, staffed by two emergency medical technicians, and carrying essential medical equipment. Since involuntary hospitalized patients need safe transportation, there is a separator between the back and front and locks that cannot be opened from the inside. Between mid-January and Oct. 31, Tahoe traveled 60,377 miles, transporting 750 behavioral health patients to Devens, Holyoke and Haverhill.

“Comfortable. South Shore Health chief of emergency medicine Dr. “This is a dignified way to move someone instead of strapping them to an ambulance stretcher,” William Tollefson said. It also frees up an ambulance that can make three or four local trips in the time it takes for one Devens round trip.

A similar program has been operating at Lowell General Hospital since 2023; 429 behavioral health patients were transported in an SUV with a plexiglass divider, first aid supplies and medical personnel.

These initiatives could potentially be scaled to other hospitals and commercial ambulance companies. But for any expansion to be feasible, two key components are required: statewide standards and insurance reimbursements.

“I think we have a pretty good proof of concept right now,” said Casey Rainville, director of advanced life support at Lowell General Hospital. “We need to bring the data together to make this a scalable solution for many different organizations.”

Nowadays, insurers generally pay for medically necessary, non-emergency transport by ambulance. MassHealth will also pay essentially what is needed taxi serviceCommercial insurers, on the other hand, tend to pay for wheelchair vans. However, the behavioral health transportation these hospitals provide does not fit neatly into these categories. There are no government standards for licensing and no framework for negotiating insurance coverage. Both hospitals bear their own costs and set their own standards for equipment, staffing ratios and training.

Standardizing and streamlining these programs will ensure that they operate under guidelines that protect patient and staff safety. It could also create insurance reimbursement potential to make such cars financially viable for other hospitals and ambulance companies.

Of course, Massachusetts remains ahead of many other states where law enforcement officers involuntarily transport patients with behavioral health issues. This can traumatize individuals and fail to appropriately treat mental health conditions as illnesses. However some states – like Virginia And colorado – moving towards specialized behavioral health transportation.

Adding more alternative means of transportation will not fully solve the problem. Dennis Cataldo, president of the Massachusetts Ambulance Association, said the staffing shortage is a bigger problem than the lack of vehicles, especially considering most hospital discharges occur in the afternoon during rush hour. Behavioral health vehicles still need to be staffed, but staff may potentially have less training than fully equipped ambulances.

But if a dedicated vehicle can efficiently and safely transport some behavioral health patients while freeing up ambulances and hospital beds for those needing emergency care, it’s a win-win.

Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. follow us @GlobeOpinion.