Minnesota
Minnesota mental health patients stay 25 hours longer than necessary in ER because of shortages
When patients in mental health crises get stuck in Minnesota’s emergency rooms, they stay 25 hours longer on average than necessary — taking up hospital space as well as the time of doctors and nurses, who could otherwise focus on the next emergencies.
Researchers documented the length of these delays by studying patient activity over 14 days last fall at more than 30 Minnesota hospitals, but they also provided vital evidence about which patients were most likely to suffer delays, and why.
Knowing which patients are at risk can help the state come up with treatments that target this population and prevent mental health crises and hospital visits, said Kristin Dillon, a coauthor from Wilder Research, which released the report on Monday along with the Minnesota Department of Health.
Delays for patients “in a hospital setting when they can be discharged is harmful to patients, caregivers, hospital staff and the health care system,” she said. “However, we cannot take steps to effectively address these discharge delays without understanding the underlying reasons behind the delays.”
Monday’s findings were presented to an advisory council created last year to reduce delays in care and the worsening problem of ER and hospital overcrowding in Minnesota.
Staffing and bed shortages at nursing homes and rehabilitation centers have worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving hospitals stuck with frail, elderly patients on their inpatient floors. Twin Cities ERs have treated patients in hallway gurneys at peak times when they have run out of beds. But these delays in many ways just compounded the longstanding problem of patients in mental health crises being boarded in ERs with nowhere to go.
Hospital inpatient psychiatric units were largely full during the study, and they couldn’t take new patients from ERs until they found space to discharge their existing patients to residential or outpatient treatment programs. The study observed 182 patients in hospital psychiatric units whose discharges were delayed, and on average it took 8 days longer than necessary to move them.
The problem was more complex than patients waiting for openings in treatment programs, though. One in five patients stuck in inpatient units was delayed by court decisions over civil commitments, or decisions over their eligibility for insurance benefits or waiver programs, the study showed.
Among patients stuck in ERs, only six in 10 needed inpatient hospital care. The rest were stuck for other reasons, including delays in arranging transportation home or in getting outpatient care lined up. A third of the delayed patients went straight home from the ERs.
M Health Fairview has been confronting the problem, opening a so-called EmPATH unit at its hospital in Edina that provides a relaxed environment and transitional care for patients who can be moved from the ER. The health system also is partnering with for-profit Acadia Healthcare to reopen the Bethesda Hospital campus in St. Paul as a psychiatric facility next year.
In some ways, the delays published in the report underestimated the problem. Delays were only calculated for patients who were discharged during the two-week study. About 5% of the ER patients had yet to be discharged by the end, and some spent the entire two weeks in care. Some hospitals have endured extreme cases, such as the boarding of a child with behavioral problems for months at Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia.
State lawmakers were so concerned by the delays in 2022 that they waived Minnesota’s hospital construction moratorium through 2027 for any provider looking to add psychiatric capacity. However, the study makes it clear that the greatest need is in community and preventive treatment programs that keep people from crises, said Dr. Will Nicholson, vice president of medical affairs for Fairview’s East Metro hospitals.
“We can take better care of people when we can prevent illness, we can get upstream,” he said.
Minnesota has been locked for two decades in a chicken-egg debate about whether to spend limited dollars on more inpatient beds, or preventive programs to try to reduce the need for those beds. State health economists blocked a proposal in 2008 by then-named Prairie St. John’s to build a psychiatric hospital in Woodbury, based largely on the argument that prevention programs were needed more. The provider later became known as PrairieCare and built and expanded a pediatric psychiatric hospital in Brooklyn Park.
More beds aren’t the only solution at a time of workforce shortages, said Sue Abderholden, who directs the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Minnesota previously tackled the mental health treatment shortage by creating a stepdown level of care called intensive residential treatment services to ease the pressure on hospitals. The state has about 60 of them operating, but many can’t find enough staff and are operating well below their 16-bed capacities, she said.
The legislature this year OKed funding for counselors who could check on patients who were showing the first signs of struggling — perhaps by skipping medication doses or appointments, Abderholden said. “We’re trying to get way before a crisis, before you need an ER, before you need a crisis team.”
KSTP/SurveyUSA poll results: Trump, Walz both below 50% approval in Minnesota
The political feud between President Donald Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is frequently documented.
While both try to score political points with their criticism of each other, neither has much in the way of bragging rights when it comes to approval ratings in Minnesota.
According to our exclusive KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, the president has a 42% approval rating in Minnesota with 55% disapproval. That 13-point difference is six points worse than our last survey three months ago.
Trump retains the approval of 89% of Republicans but just 35% of independents.
“Trump is always running a bit below the national average in job approval in Minnesota and that is the case here,” says Carleton College political analyst Steven Schier. However, the newest Associated Press/Reuters poll showed the president with a 39% approval rating and 59% disapproval, slightly better than his Minnesota results.
The president’s approval is bogged down by a 43% approval of his handling of the economy.
Gov. Walz doesn’t fare much better in our survey. For the second survey in a row, Walz is at 48% approval and 48% disapproval. Those ratings are his lowest in the 20 times we’ve surveyed his approval in the past four years. He’s seeking an unprecedented third four-year term as governor of Minnesota.
“Gov. Walz’s approval puts him in sort of a flashing yellow light zone,” says Schier. “There’s some danger ahead. He’s below 50% approval.”
The Walz approval numbers are weighed down by just 14% who say he’s done enough to stop state government fraud.
Our survey included 35% Democrats, 31% Republicans and 29% independents.
SurveyUSA interviewed 650 adults from the state of Minnesota 12/09/25 through 12/12/25. Of the adults, 578 were identified as being registered to vote and were asked the questions which follow. This research was conducted online, using nonprobability sample of online adult panelists chosen randomly by Cint USA. The combined pool of survey respondents was weighted to US Census ACS targets for gender, age, race, education, and home ownership.
ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management and
Gov. Tim Walz
recently announced the signing of a cannabis cooperative agreement with
Red Lake Nation.
According to a release, the agreement outlines how the state of Minnesota and Red Lake Nation will protect the public health, safety and well-being of all Minnesotans regarding adult-use cannabis and supports Red Lake Nation’s tribal sovereignty, cultural identity and heritage.
“This partnership opens a new outlet for state-licensed cannabis businesses to access and sell legal cannabis and honors the independence of the members of the Red Lake Band,” OCM Executive Director Eric Taubel said in the release. “We look forward to their cooperation in bringing more cannabis supply to the state and seeing their cannabis operations develop and thrive while respecting the Red Lake Band’s autonomy.”
In Minnesota’s cannabis law, the legislature directed Walz to negotiate intergovernmental agreements with tribal nations sharing territory with Minnesota to strengthen public health and safety, secure an equitable and well-regulated cannabis market, and provide financial benefits to both the state and tribal nations.
Red Lake’s NativeCare dispensary
was the first in the state to sell legal, adult-use cannabis after the law legalizing cannabis took effect in August 2023. With this agreement in place, Red Lake is able to collaborate with state-licensed cannabis businesses and create partnerships.
“Our goal from the beginning has been to produce the highest quality cannabis products that are free of all toxins and impurities. Consistent testing has verified that we have reached our goal,” Red Lake Nation Chair Darrell Seki Sr. said in the release. “Now that our cooperative agreement with the state has been finalized, we are looking forward to sharing our top-shelf products with the Minnesota market.”
Compact negotiations continue between the state and tribal nations sharing territory with the state of Minnesota. To date, the state has signed compacts with White Earth Nation, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Prairie Island Indian Community, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
The state expects to announce additional tribal-state cannabis agreements soon.
Copies of signed, executed tribal-state cannabis compacts and cooperative agreements can be found on
OCM’s website.
The former NFL sideline reporter has met with top Republican committees as she weighs a 2026 bid and a rare GOP pickup attempt in Minnesota.
Michele Tafoya, the former NFL sideline reporter turned political analyst, is considering a run for the United States Senate in her current home state of Minnesota, OutKick has learned. Sources familiar with the situation say she is expected to make a final decision in early 2026.
Tafoya met with the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Senate Leadership Fund, and other stakeholders in Washington, D.C. last week. The NRSC has been recruiting her to run for the Senate race in Minnesota, where the Democratic primary has pitted progressive favorite Peggy Flanagan against Chuck Schumer-backed Angie Craig.
Tafoya gave up her NBC career so she could speak more openly about her conservative political beliefs. The breaking point for Tafoya at the media giant came in December 2021 when she appeared on “The View” and served as the conservative panelist. The rest of the cast on the show supported Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest, and his assertion that the NFL resembled the slave trade, while Tafoya raised some important counterpoints.
“I’ve been covering the NFL for 25 years,” Tafoya said at the time. “Nobody forces these guys to play. I thought comparing it to the slave trade was a little rough. These guys enter willingly, they are the most well cared for people. Yes, they play a hard sport. And every one of them — black, white, Latino, whoever’s playing the sport — will tell you how much they love it, and they’re willing to do it, and they make a damn good living.”
Former NFL reporter Michele Tafoya is weighing a Minnesota U.S. Senate bid after meetings with GOP groups, with a final decision expected early next year.
(Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images)
Tafoya nnounced in February 2022 that she wanted to pursue other career opportunities. Shortly after, she became the co-chair for Republican Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls when he ran against Tim Walz in 2022.
Tafoya’s Rise in Minnesota Politics
Since then, Tafoya has become more active politically, particularly in Minnesota. Tafoya has taken Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar to task many times over their policies and rhetoric. Most recently, Tafoya has railed against a $1 billion fraud scheme in Minnesota that she linked to Walz and Omar.
Tafoya grew up in California and attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate degree and USC for her master’s degree. She moved to Minnesota after graduation to pursue a career in sports broadcasting and has lived in the state since.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Tafoya has been receiving calls from supporters in Minnesota encouraging her to run, and she’s had ongoing conversations with South Carolina Sen. and NRSC Chairman, Tim Scott.
Minnesota hasn’t had a Republican senator since Norm Coleman, who left office in January 2009. Should Tafoya choose to run, she’d look to reverse a trend that has continued for over 15 years.
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