Can Howard County’s hospital cut ER wait times with a new behavioral health unit?

At any given time, the emergency department at the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center is treating an average of 11 patients with mental health or substance use crises — in a unit equipped for just six of them. Behavioral health patients at the emergency room often wait 24 hours to be transferred to a facility with an open bed, said Dr. Shafeeq Ahmed, the hospital’s president.