California Health and Safety Code 1317.4b – (a) A psychiatric unit within a general acute care hospital, as …
(a) A psychiatric unit within a general acute care hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250, a psychiatric health facility of more than 16 beds, as defined in Section 1250.2 and subject to subdivision (d), or an acute psychiatric hospital, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1250, shall accept a transfer of a person with a psychiatric emergency medical condition, as defined in subdivision (k) of Section 1317.1, from a health facility licensed under this chapter that maintains and operates an emergency department and the receiving facility shall provide emergency services and care to that person consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1317.1, regardless of whether the facility operates an emergency department, if all of the following requirements are met:
(1) The treating physician at the sending facility has determined that the patient is medically stable and appropriate for treatment in a psychiatric setting and has included that determination in the patient’s medical record.
Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 1317.4b
- 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
- County: includes city and county. See California Health and Safety Code 14
- department: means State Department of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 20
- general acute care hospital: includes a "rural general acute care hospital. See California Health and Safety Code 1250
- 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
(2) The facility has an available bed.
(3) The facility has appropriate facilities and qualified personnel available to provide the services or care.
(b) A facility accepting a transfer of a person with a psychiatric emergency medical condition pursuant to subdivision (a) shall comply with the requirements of subdivisions (b), (d), and (f) of Section 1317.
(c) This section shall not apply to a facility listed in § 4100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(d) This section shall not apply to a psychiatric health facility that is county owned and operated.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 438, Sec. 1. (AB 451) Effective January 1, 2022.)