California Health and Safety Code 1262 – (a) When a mental health patient is being discharged from one …
(a) When a mental health patient is being discharged from one of the facilities specified in subdivision (c), the patient and the patient’s conservator, guardian, or other legally authorized representative, as applicable, shall be given a written aftercare plan prior to the patient’s discharge from the facility. The written aftercare plan shall include, to the extent known, all of the following components:
(1) The nature of the illness and followup required.
Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 1262
- Acute psychiatric hospital: means a health facility having a duly constituted governing body with overall administrative and professional responsibility and an organized medical staff that provides 24-hour inpatient care for persons with mental health disorders or other patients referred to in Division 5 (commencing with Section 5000) or Division 6 (commencing with Section 6000) of the Welfare and Institutions Code, including the following basic services: medical, nursing, rehabilitative, pharmacy, and dietary services. See California Health and Safety Code 1250
- general acute care hospital: includes a "rural general acute care hospital. See California Health and Safety Code 1250
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- health facility: means a facility, place, or building that is organized, maintained, and operated for the diagnosis, care, prevention, and treatment of human illness, physical or mental, including convalescence and rehabilitation and including care during and after pregnancy, or for any one or more of these purposes, for one or more persons, to which the persons are admitted for a 24-hour stay or longer, and includes the following types:
California Health and Safety Code 1250
- Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Health and Safety Code 19
- Skilled nursing facility: includes a "small house skilled nursing facility (SHSNF)" as defined in Section 1323. See California Health and Safety Code 1250
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Health and Safety Code 23
(2) Medications including side effects and dosage schedules. If the patient was given an informed consent form with their medications, the form shall satisfy the requirement for information on side effects of the medications.
(3) Expected course of recovery.
(4) Recommendations regarding treatment that are relevant to the patient’s care.
(5) Referrals to providers of medical and mental health services.
(6) Other relevant information.
(b) The patient shall be advised by facility personnel that they may designate another person to receive a copy of the aftercare plan. A copy of the aftercare plan shall be given to any person designated by the patient.
(c) Subdivision (a) applies to all of the following facilities:
(1) A state mental hospital.
(2) A general acute care hospital as described in subdivision (a) of Section 1250.
(3) An acute psychiatric hospital as described in subdivision (b) of Section 1250.
(4) A psychiatric health facility as described in Section 1250.2.
(5) A mental health rehabilitation center as described in § 5675 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(6) A skilled nursing facility with a special treatment program, as described in Section 51335 and Sections 72443 to 72475, inclusive, of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
(7) A psychiatric residential treatment facility as described in Section 1250.10.
(d) For purposes of this section, “mental health patient” means a person who is admitted to the facility primarily for the diagnosis or treatment of a mental disorder.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 589, Sec. 5. (AB 2317) Effective January 1, 2023.)