Lack of beds at psychiatric hospitals has local mom concerned

A severe shortage of psychiatric hospital beds has a family worried about their young son.

The Hopkinton family is struggling to get him the help he needs, but right now, the boy is stuck in a local hospital's emergency room.

“He's been in the emergency room now for six days with the holiday weekend coming, we anticipate if he doesn't get placed today, he'll be there until at least Tuesday,” said mother Michelle Blangeard.

Michelle has been trying since Sunday to get her 10-year-old son Thomas out of the emergency room at Milford Hospital and into a psychiatric hospital.

“I can't stand to see him stuck in this little room for too much longer. I couldn't do it,” said Blangeard.

Michelle tells Boston 25 News her son is diagnosed with a severe mood disorder and on Sunday, the family called police when they couldn't control Thomas' violent outbursts and barefoot, he stormed out into the street, where he cut his foot.

“There was no calming him down. We kept trying to use strategies and redirections and he just wouldn't calm down,” said Blangeard.

At Milford Hospital, Michelle says her son is confined to his room while she and her husband work with an agency to find placement at a psychiatric hospital, but she is told there is no room. She's concerned that every minute Thomas waits at the ER, he's not getting the help to get better.

Thomas' mother tells Boston 25 the staff at Milford Hospital is treating him very well, but the concern she has is that her son needs a psychiatric hospital, not an emergency room.

In a statement to Boston 25, the Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges the shortage of available beds, and it says the state is working with hospitals, insurance companies and others to fix the problem.

But for Michelle, she's concerned about her son and other families who right now are dealing with this.

“As a mom, it’s devastating and if we can do anything to help my son and all the other kids waiting it would be huge,” said Blangeard.

She hopes that going public will help.

Cox Media Group