The University of Mississippi Medical Center and Merit Health Central have been on psychiatric diversion since July 4, although it is unclear when exactly each hospital reached full capacity. St. Dominic said it would stop accepting new psychiatric inpatients June 6 and would work to transfer existing patients to other facilities, but a Merit spokesperson did not attribute the diversion status to the end of services at St. Dominics, saying the increase in demand has been occuring over the past two years.
UMMC did not respond to Mississippi Today’s request for comment.
Patients who are turned away from either of the two hospitals are referred to the closest available behavioral health facility. In situations where this is not possible, patients will be cared for on-site in the emergency department until a bed becomes available, according to the report.
