Just another room taken – leading to further backup in an already clogged system:

The woman told the nurse she had a history of mental instability and was off her medication. She wanted to check herself into a mental health hospital – a request that would take hours to fulfill.

The closest mental health inpatient facility is two hours away. But the availability of a bed and an officer to transport her is often a wait that no one can estimate. They would have to keep her in one of 16 patient rooms in the emergency department with a nurse checking on her every 10 to 15 minutes until arrangements could be made. As a result, the emergency staff had one less room to use for patients who came in with symptoms of a stroke, heart attack or any other health problem in need of emergent treatment.