BOSTON — State health officials are floating the idea of buying a cruise ship and converting it into a waterborne mental health and substance abuse facility to fill a shortage of available beds.
A new report, based on a study conducted by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of technology, recommends the state look into the conversion of a cruise ship “as a creative and feasible option” to provide the city of Boston a supplemental mental health and substance use recovery facility.
The study, released by the state Department of Mental Health, found that a cruise ship is an option that is “immediately available” and that it would be “much faster than acquiring land and building a new facility from the ground up.”
“The limited structural work required to convert a cruise ship to a mental health and substance use treatment facility makes a cruise ship well-suited for this conversion,” they wrote. “This also significantly reduces the required time and money required to complete the project.”
But the plan would come with a hefty price tag, estimated at $60 million for the purchase and conversion of the vessel, according to the report.
Operating the floating hospital would cost more than $37 million a year, the researchers estimated, with the majority of those costs going towards staffing. Annual maintenance on the ship would cost $1 million, researchers said.
In their report, the researchers provided detailed information about the steps that would be involved in converting a cruise ship into a floating hospital, including detailed floorplans. They even identified a vessel that’s currently for sale.
But the researchers noted that there are many unknowns about the actual price tag, including the condition of the ship and unanticipated renovation costs.
“Estimating the total cost of any conversion project is a challenging task, particularly a conversion as novel as this proposed project,” they wrote. “It is difficult to fully bound the complete scope of work involved. This is due to the volume of unknown growth work that may exist.”
The MIT team noted that floating hospitals have been used in the past to help triage patients after hurricanes and other natural disasters or deal with outbreaks of disease. Many of them have been operated by the U.S. Navy, which has endorsed the proposal.
In the 1890s, Boston was home to the Floating Children’s Hospital, a ship that was dedicated to treating ill children from low-income families, they noted.
“This pioneering approach to the use of maritime resources for healthcare can inspire modern adaptations,” they wrote. “They provide a unique medical surge capacity that can be relocated as needed.”
The MIT researchers recommend that the state “continue to pursue this project with the assistance of a collaborative team of experts in shipbuilding and medical facilities.”
The proposal was being floated as the state’s health care system continues to wrestle with a shortage of clinical bed. Hundreds of psychiatric and substance abuse patients are being “boarded” in emergency rooms across the state as they await placement in psychiatric beds.
As of last week 434 individuals, including 58 children, were being boarded in 49 hospitals awaiting mental health services, according to a weekly tally.
Locally, hospitals in the north of Boston region reported the third-largest number of boarders, with an estimated 94 patients waiting to be transferred.
It’s not clear whether the Legislature will take up the proposal, given the hefty price tag and little enthusiasm for the plan by mental health advocates.
The Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association says it doesn’t have a position on the concept of a floating hospital, but is working on a number of initiatives dealing with the shortage of beds and staffing in brick and mortar facilities.
Most health-care experts say the root cause of the shortage of beds in mental health and substance abuse facilities is a pressing shortage of workers.
Under state and federal healthcare guidelines, hospitals cannot use psychiatric beds when there isn’t enough professional staff to oversee them.
In recent years, Beacon Hill has taken a number of steps aimed at addressing a mental health “crisis” that experts say emerged in the wake of disruptions and isolation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Maura Healey has focused on providing educational incentives and boosting funding for staffing at healthcare facilities, to help boost the workforce.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com