Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5005 – Provisional hospitalization by psychiatrist’s certification
(a) No person will be involuntarily admitted to a hospital as a patient until the person is detained for observation pursuant to the procedure set forth in § 5004 of this title. At the completion of the emergency detention period, the person shall not be admitted to a hospital except pursuant to the written certification of a psychiatrist that based upon the psychiatrist’s examination of such person:
(1) Appears to be a person with a mental condition;
(2) The person has been offered voluntary inpatient treatment and has declined such care and treatment or lacks the capacity to knowingly and voluntarily consent to such care and treatment;
(3) As a result of the person’s apparent mental condition, the person poses a present threat, based upon manifest indications, of being dangerous to self or dangerous to others; and
(4) Less restrictive alternatives have been considered and determined to be clinically inappropriate at the present time.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5005
- Dangerous to others: means that by reason of mental condition there is a substantial likelihood that the person will inflict serious bodily harm upon another person within the immediate future. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- Dangerous to self: means that by reason of mental condition there is a substantial likelihood that the person will imminently sustain serious bodily harm to oneself. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- Hospital: means the Delaware Psychiatric Center and any hospital in this State which is certified by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services as being an appropriate facility for the diagnosis, care and treatment of persons with mental conditions 18 years of age or older. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- Involuntary patient: means a person admitted pursuant to emergency detention, provisional admission, a complaint for involuntary civil commitment, a probable cause hearing or an involuntary inpatient commitment hearing to the custody of a designated psychiatric treatment facility or hospital for observation, diagnosis, care and treatment. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- Mental condition: means a current, substantial disturbance of thought, mood, perception or orientation which significantly impairs judgment, capacity to control behavior, or capacity to recognize reality. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- Person with a mental condition: includes every person with an emotional or psychiatric disorder or disability. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- Psychiatrist: means an individual who possesses a valid State of Delaware license to practice medicine and has completed an accredited residency training program in psychiatry. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) The psychiatrist’s certificate shall state with particularity the behavior and symptoms upon which the psychiatrist’s opinion is based, shall include (where available) the name and address of the spouse or other nearest relative or person of close relationship to the alleged person with a mental condition, and shall state that such person is not willing to accept hospital care and treatment on a voluntary basis or that the person is incapable of voluntarily consenting to such care and treatment. The certificate shall also set forth the date of the psychiatrist’s determination. The hospital shall thereupon advise the involuntary patient of the patient’s rights under this chapter in language that is understandable to the individual. Upon completion of the psychiatrist’s certificate, the individual shall be detained for an additional 48-hour period.
(c) If the examining psychiatrist at the hospital determines that the involuntary patient no longer meets the criteria for provisional admission, the psychiatrist shall so certify in writing and the hospital shall immediately discharge the person. Prior to such discharge, the hospital shall provide the person with a copy of the certificate stating that the person was not involuntarily committed for any legal purpose.
(d) If the person seeks voluntary care and treatment after being provisionally admitted under this section, the provisional admission will terminate and the person shall be voluntarily admitted to a hospital without delay.
(e) The 48-hour observation period prescribed in this section shall be referred to as “provisional admission.” An individual who is provisionally admitted pursuant to this chapter shall not be considered “involuntarily committed” for any legal purpose.
60 Del. Laws, c. 95, § ?1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 78 Del. Laws, c. 179, § ?175; 79 Del. Laws, c. 442, § ?1;