Access to Behavioral Health services is insufficient, especially in rural and low-income communities. As the primary providers of emergency medical services, hospitals have become the stopgap for South Carolina’s failing behavioral health system. Hospitals often house behavioral health patients who have no other source of care which puts a strain on hospital resources and capacity.
SCHA supports broad measures to improve the state’s behavioral healthcare system by modernizing behavioral health patient transport, providing programs for crisis intervention, developing integrated care models, supporting increased state and federal funding for inpatient and outpatient services, and integrating behavioral health services into primary care.