VIDEO: A program in West Michigan is now being referred to as the โgold standardโ when it comes to behavioral health transport. Life EMS Ambulanceโs Behavioral Health Transport (BHT) Program was launched as a pilot program back in 2022, with a focus of providing safe and clinically appropriate transports for clients in need of behavioral health services. Since then, the program has successfully completed more than 7,000 transports in just over two-and-a half-years.
โOur 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,โ Mark Meijer, president of Life EMS Ambulance, said.
The BHT program focuses on moving patients between inpatient care at hospitals to behavioral health treatment facilities, such as Pine Rest. An average of 12 to 15 patients are typically transported a day from hospitals all over the Midwest, according to Meijer. Because there is such a high need for behavioral health treatment beds, patients will often be transported as far as Detroit, Chicago, and parts of Indiana.
โThat’s really one area where the BHT program has shined,โ Meijer said. โInstead 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.โ Traditionally, transports were done by EMTs and paramedics in the back of a regular ambulance, but Meijer says that wasnโt the most appropriate or comfortable way to do so. โWhile we’re obviously in the ambulance-type operation, and we’re big believers in what we do clinically, there just wasn’t the right tool for the job,โ Meijer said. Now, they rely on nine, soon to be ten, custom-designed SUVs.
