GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Michigan initiative is being hailed as a model for behavioral health transports.
Launched in 2022, Life EMS Ambulance’s Behavioral Health Transport (BHT) program provides safe, clinically appropriate transportation for patients needing behavioral health care.
Since it started, the program has completed more than 7,000 transports, WWMT reported.
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“Our behavioral health transport program grew out of looking for a better solution, more respectful and safer way to move patients between inpatient, acute care hospitals, and behavioral health treatment facilities,” Life EMS Ambulance President Mark Meijer said.
The BHT program transfers hospital inpatients to behavioral health facilities, transporting approximately 12–15 patients a day from Midwest hospitals. With beds scarce, trips often reach Detroit, Chicago and parts of Indiana.
“That’s really one area where the BHT program has shined,” Meijer said. “Instead of a person who needs behavioral health care riding in the back of an ambulance for three hours, they can be in a very relaxing environment.”
Life EMS uses nine, soon 10, custom SUVs with interior partitions and real-time rear-seat cameras. Facilities report that the calmer setting smooths transitions into inpatient care and may shorten stays.
“They arrived, we found, just in a whole different demeanor ready for the next part of their treatment,” Meijer said.
