There’s an ongoing national conversation about the spiraling mental health crisis — which was aggravated by the pandemic — and the urgent need to put more resources toward our faltering behavioral health system. Here in Pennsylvania, this health care emergency is in many ways more dire than the U.S. overall. Nearly 34% of Pennsylvanians have a mental health or substance use disorder diagnosis, more than the national rate. In Allegheny County, the rate of overdose deaths is significantly higher than statewide and 89% above the rest of the country.
As a nurse at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital for the past eight years, I’ve been on the front lines of this unfolding catastrophe. And I’ve watched with alarm as our hospital, the largest behavioral health facility in Western Pennsylvania, is increasingly unable to meet the surging demand for services because nearly a third of all our beds are closed due to extreme staff shortages and turnover. We cannot begin to address our region’s overall mental health needs without solving the problems at Western Psych.