Mississippi will use part of a new $32 million federal rural health award to develop three psychiatric emergency units next to hospital emergency departments. The units are meant to give people in a mental health crisis a calmer, specialized place to be evaluated instead of a general ER bed or, in some cases, a jail cell.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the funding on October 21 through its Rural Health Transformation Program. The agency said the money covers 60 awards for rural providers and workforce programs, including efforts to recruit and keep primary care doctors, expand clinical training and build pathways into health care jobs. The psychiatric units are one part of that package, and CMS did not say how much of the money will go to them.
