ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. — Beds that would typically go to emergency room patients are sometimes being used to house the mentally ill before they can be sent to a mental health hospital.

At Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville, besides the hundreds of patients each day who need emergency medical care, there is a growing number coming in with non-medical emergencies.

“Psychotic patients, schizophrenia. It just varies,” said Susan Owens, emergency department assistant director.

An emergency room stay can last anywhere from 18 hours to a few days and, in one case, even lasted a month, Owen said.

“That’s less patients that we can see in a timely manner,” she said.

It’s a problem Rockingham County officials are trying to fix through a new mental health program.

The program will allow social workers to team up with police and hospitals during mental health emergencies. The goal is to get patients diagnosed and placed in a mental health hospital faster instead of spending days in an emergency room.

The program is being funded through a $130,000 grant approved by the board of commissioners this week. Officials hope to start the program within a month.