Knoxville Hospital and Clinics tells KNIA/KRLS News more than 120,000 Iowans live with serious mental health issues and 80,000 Iowa youth cope with severe emotional disorders, but despite those numbers Iowa has fewer psychiatric beds and mental health professionals than nearly every state in the nation.

The result of this, a hospital statement concludes, is that many of the mentally ill end up in emergency rooms or jails. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that nearly 15 percent of men and 30 percent of women booked into jails have a serious mental health condition. Knoxville Hospital and Clinics and the Iowa Hospital Association believe the state is in need of a full care continuum in behavioral health that includes sub-acute services, crisis intervention, crisis homes, nursing facility care and community-based services. Knoxville Hospital and Clinics and the Iowa Hospital Association will be advocating for increased behavioral health care access to help relieve the bottleneck of patients hospital beds or jails during this legislative session. They are asking Iowans to become more informed about the mental health services crisis in the state and engage in the legislative process to seek change.