KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – City and state leaders are backing a $20 million proposal to open a 30-bed long-term psychiatric facility in Knoxville.
Jery Harnish with American Medical Response (AMR) said neither ambulances nor emergency rooms are designed to provide sustained psychiatric care, and that creating an alternative would benefit patients and the broader emergency system.
“Neither an ambulance nor a hospital emergency department is really designed for their care. If there is an alternative, it not only helps the emergency system, it helps the patient,” Harnish said…