New Strategy to Transform State’s Mental Health Care

In a move to restructure New Hampshire’s mental health system, state officials are making investments aimed at eliminating the longstanding practice of boarding patients with mental illness in hospital emergency departments.

As part of the ‘Mission Zero’ plan, which seeks to eliminate the boarding of psychiatric patients in emergency departments by 2025, the state Department of Health and Human Services publicly unveiled their new strategy on Thursday.

Their approach centers on expanding early intervention resources, increasing the availability of inpatient psychiatric beds, and facilitating smoother transitions for individuals with acute mental health conditions back into the community.