Mental Health Crisis impacting Siouxland emergency rooms, laws in Iowa working to address area psychiatric medical institutions [Video]

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – When people experience a mental health crisis, you take them to the nearest emergency room.

Taffy Zoelle, Director of Emergency Department Services at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s has a desire to help people who are facing a significant event in their life. She says many are sad, depressed, withdrawn, and tearful.

“They just really need somebody to listen to them and get the help that they need,” said Zoelle.

In Siouxland, a large portion of those patients come to Unity Point Health-St Luke’s.

“Every day in the emergency room, we see many patients up to 120 patients a day. And many of those patients come with different issues and concerns. On average, we can have up to four to five patients in our ER boarding waiting for the right mental health beds to open,” said Zoelle.

She said many patients are dealing with suicidal schizophrenic, and drug-induced …