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Continued progress

By Ava Thomson - Merrimack | Jul 28, 2019

I’d like to thank Gov. Chris Sununu for signing three important mental health bills into law late last week: House Bill 239, Senate Bill 80, and Senate Bill 177. House Bill 239 makes it easier for counselors seeking to get certified to undergo the necessary processes. SB 80 further deals with applications and clarifies a few issues with out of state practitioners. Finally, SB 177 clarifies when physical restraints may be used to help transport a person to a New Hampshire hospital or designated receiving facility.

Overall, these bills do quite a few things important things: they improve access to mental health services, make it easier for more people to be certified to cover mental health, and make it safer for both patients and medical personal. All of these bills are important steps in continuing to make New Hampshire a mental health friendly state. Due to the fact that they had bipartisan support in both chambers of the Legislature, there was little doubt that they would pass, but it is still reassuring to see Governor Sununu sign them into law. I know that we have made great strides as a state in the past few years regarding the mental health crisis and that is largely due to the bipartisan support from the Governor, the Senate, and the House.

I’m excited to see the continued progress that we can make in the future.

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