The New Hampshire Hospital Association and the state have announced an agreement to end a lawsuit concerning the matter of keeping patients who are experiencing mental health crises in emergency rooms, according to a July 12 report from ABC affiliate WMUR.
As part of the agreement, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services commissioner will not be appealing the May ruling from a federal judge requiring the state to stop the practice within a year.
Meanwhile, the hospitals involved in the agreement will drop the rest of their cases against DHHS and will partner with the agency to meet the federal judge's requirements that patients experiencing mental health crises be moved to a dedicated mental health facility within six hours of admission.