The second theme relates to difficulties in securing community‐based and inpatient behavioral health services. A by‐product of this challenge can be extended lengths of stay in the hospital and, by extension, delays in a patient's receipt of needed mental health services. For example, respondents described an inadequate supply of outpatient community resources, such as therapists willing to treat suicidal patients and availability of substance abuse treatment facilities. This causes delays in securing services for this population segment under the risk of injury. Other delays related to patients (typically those with chronic health conditions) who met medical clearance requirements for discharge from an acute care hospital, but did not meet medical clearance requirements for admission to a psychiatric hospital. Such patients are considered to have an underlying medical illness which renders admission to a psychiatric facility unsafe or inappropriate. Furthermore, respondents felt that psychiatric hospitals require a threshold level of profound psychiatric illness for admission, with delayed treatment for many patients’ mental health conditions as a consequence.
