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2019 SESSION

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SB 1488 State hospital for individuals w/ mental illness; SHHR to examine cause of high census at hospital.

Introduced by: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr. | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE: (all summaries)

Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; causes of high state hospital census; report. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a stakeholder work group to examine the causes of the high census at the Commonwealth's state hospitals for individuals with mental illness, including (i) the impact on such census of the practice of conducting evaluations of individuals who are the subject of an emergency custody order in hospital emergency departments, the treatment needs of individuals with complex medical conditions, the treatment needs of individuals who are under the influence of alcohol or other controlled substances, and the need to ensure that individuals receive treatment in the most appropriate setting to meet their physical and behavioral health care needs and (ii) the potential impact on such census of extending the time frame during which an emergency custody order remains valid, revising security requirements to allow custody of a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order to be transferred from law enforcement to a hospital emergency department, diverting individuals who are the subject of an emergency custody order from hospital emergency departments to other more appropriate locations for medical and psychological evaluations, and preventing unnecessary use of hospital emergency department resources by improving the efficiency of the evaluation process. The work group shall analyze how such issues affect both adults and children. The work group shall develop recommendations for both long-term and short-term solutions to the high census at the Commonwealth's state hospitals for individuals with mental illness and shall report such recommendations to the Chairmen of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the Twenty-First Century, the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee for Courts of Justice, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2019.


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