(Jan. 3, 2019) In the past six months, 13 people suffering from a mental-health or addiction crisis were transported off-island by ambulance to mainland facilities, some as far as the western part of the state, to receive counseling and medication for conditions ranging from addiction to schizophrenia.

Each time a patient is transported, the bill is, on average, $4,500, said Walter Wieners, chairman of the town’s behavioral health task force. Currently, that bill is picked up by Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s dedicated fund for mental-health transport, and when that runs dry, by the hospital itself.

The matter of who pays the bill is a concern for Wieners, who said the fund cannot be sustained by one-time grants alone, and needs yearly funding from the town. So he’s proposed a warrant article for the April Annual Town Meeting seeking a $110,000 annual appropriation to cover the mental health-related transportation costs.


