Attorney General Letitia James announced the agreement on April 13. Her office said the investigation uncovered "systemic failures in emergency psychiatric care, patient safety protocols, and inpatient bed capacity" at the hospital system.
According to the AG's office, NewYork-Presbyterian repeatedly failed to properly screen and stabilize patients with behavioral health conditions, lacked effective measures to prevent impaired patients from leaving before discharge, and inadequately monitored patients under observation orders.
The investigation also found that the hospital did not bring all of its licensed inpatient psychiatric beds back online after the pandemic. As of May 2023, more than 100 psychiatric beds remained out of service across the system, the AG's office said, despite state regulators directing hospitals to restore that capacity.
"Mental health care is necessary medical care, and hospitals have a legal and moral obligation to treat these crises with urgency and compassion," James said.
Under the settlement, NewYork-Presbyterian must overhaul emergency department screening policies to identify risks including suicide, violence, and substance use, with mandatory follow-up and reassessment protocols for higher-risk patients.
The hospital must also establish "mandatory observation logs," strengthen elopement precautions, and require immediate escalation and documentation whenever a high-need patient goes missing.
Other required steps include upgrading electronic health record systems to give providers real-time access to complete patient information, expanding care coordination to include outreach to families and outside providers, and ensuring that patients with complex needs leave with scheduled follow-up appointments.
The agreement carries a $10,000 penalty for each future violation. NewYork-Presbyterian will remain subject to ongoing monitoring, reporting, and quality assurance reviews, including tracking and review of every patient elopement incident.