The settlement follows a years-long investigation into NewYork-Presbyterian's treatment of patients experiencing mental health emergencies. The Office of the Attorney General found that the hospital system engaged in a repeated pattern of failures that put vulnerable patients at risk, including failing to properly evaluate and stabilize patients in emergency departments, leaving critical psychiatric beds offline during a worsening mental health crisis, and frequently diverting ambulances without any defined policy in place.
The investigation was launched after mounting concerns about access to mental health care, including testimony from providers, advocates, and impacted families about dangerous gaps in emergency and inpatient psychiatric services. The OAG reviewed data from thousands of emergency department visits involving behavioral health conditions, as well as patient records, hospital policies, incident reporting systems, and psychiatric bed capacity data.
The OAG documented specific cases illustrating the failures. A patient with a history of suicide attempts and homicidal ideation arrived reporting hallucinations and told staff he couldn't control when he wanted to hurt people. He was determined to need inpatient psychiatric admission, waited more than two days in the emergency department for a bed, and eloped before transfer despite an order for close supervision. A teenage patient initially cleared for discharge was later found to be at high risk for suicide or violence after staff reached his mother — but because safety precautions had not been implemented, he eloped within minutes. In a third case, a young man brought in by EMS and police after attacking a bystander ran from the emergency department while staff failed to review the EMS report documenting the incident; the hospital did not notify law enforcement until the following day.
The OAG also determined that as of May 2023, more than 100 psychiatric beds remained out of operation across the NYP system following the COVID-19 pandemic, despite clear legal requirements and growing demand for care. State regulators had directed hospitals to restore this capacity as the pandemic subsided, but NYP did not fully comply.
Under the settlement, NYP must strengthen screening policies for suicide, violence, and substance use risk; establish mandatory observation protocols and monitoring logs; improve elopement prevention and incident escalation procedures; upgrade its electronic health record system for real-time access to patient information; improve care coordination with families and outside providers; and ensure patients with complex needs leave with appropriate follow-up care. NYP will also be subject to continued monitoring, reporting, and quality assurance reviews, including tracking every patient elopement incident.
Glenn Liebman, CEO of Mental Health Association in New York State, said the settlement is an important reminder of the ongoing need for strong oversight and enforcement to ensure compliance and accountability with New York's laws and regulations, and called on New York state to require community hospitals to restore all inpatient capacity to pre-COVID levels. Nathan McLaughlin, Executive Director of NAMI New York State, said the findings reflect the unfortunate reality individuals and families have experienced for years and described the settlement as an important step toward ensuring people receive safe, appropriate care when they need it most.
This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Michael Reisman and Assistant Attorney General and Special Assistant to the First Deputy Gina Bull, under the supervision of Health Care Bureau Chief Darsana Srinivasan.