A federal judge has again given the state more time to end its practice of holding mental health patients in emergency departments for prolonged periods. Last year, Judge Landya B. McCafferty ordered the state to end ER boarding by May 2024, saying those patients should not spend more than six hours in the ER before getting into treatment. This spring, McCafferty extended the original deadline through December 2024 when the state said it needed more time to comply. Last month, McCafferty again pushed that deadline back, giving the state until the end of next March.
