SB1716 - 551R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 36-202, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE36-202. Arizona state hospital; persons with mental disorders, alcoholism and drug abuse; purpose; facilities and equipment

A. A state hospital shall be maintained for the to care for and treatment of treat persons with mental disorders and persons with other personality disorders or emotional conditions who will benefit from care and treatment. Admissions to the state hospital shall be in accordance with law. The state hospital shall admit patients based on clinical need for treatment and may not place any limit on admission based on a patient's county of residence. The hospital shall be called the Arizona state hospital.

B. Subject to legislative appropriation, the state hospital may provide services to persons suffering from alcoholism and to persons suffering from drug abuse.

C. The state hospital shall have adequate facilities and equipment for enlightened and scientific treatment of nervous and mental diseases in accordance with approved methods of mental therapeutics. The facilities shall include, among other things:

1. Facilities for medical and psychiatric treatment with special attention to occupational therapy and other special therapies.

2. Facilities for proper segregation to properly segregate and care of for child patients.

3. Facilities for recreation and physical training.

4. An institutional library for the use of patients.

5. A properly equipped dental department.

6. A properly equipped laboratory and x-ray department.

7. A patient tracking system approved by the director that monitors individual progress on an inpatient basis and ensures suitable aftercare placement.

D. The state hospital shall be under the charge and control of the director of the department of health services, pursuant to this article. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title 36, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 36-205.01, to read:

START_STATUTE36-205.01. State hospital governing body; membership; appointments; duties; compensation

A. The state hospital governing body is established and consists of at least seven but not more than nine voting members who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. Members of the governing body serve at the pleasure of the governor. the governing body's membership includes the following:

1. The director or the director's designee, who serves as the chairperson of the governing body. the director shall attend meetings of the governing body whenever possible and shall review and sign all meeting minutes.

2. The superintendent.

3. At least five public members, including a licensed psychiatrist, a licensed psychologist, a person who has experience in hospital or health care administration and a family member of a current or former patient.

4. The chairperson of the independent oversight committee at the ARizona state hospital established pursuant to section 41-3803, who serves as a nonvoting member of the body. the chairperson shall participate in the governing body discussions, advise the governing body on issues that affect patient rights and report on the work of the independent oversight committee.

B. Except for the director and the superintendent, a voting member of the governing body may not be employed by this state or any entity or program that directly contracts with this state.

C. The governing body shall operate the state hospital consistent with the state hospital's statutory purposes as prescribed in sections 36-202 and 36-203 and the state hospital's mission and vision.

D. The governing body shall adopt and maintain bylaws that include provisions to ensure that the state hospital reports on its operations in a manner that provides institutional accountability to the public and state government.

E. Except for the director and the superintendent, members of the governing body are eligible to receive compensation in an amount of $200 for each meeting the member attends up to twelve meetings annually.END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 36-217, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE36-217. State hospital; annual report

On or before January October 1 of each year, the director state hospital governing body shall submit to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate a financial and programmatic report on the state hospital for the preceding fiscal year. In addition to information that the governing body deems relevant, this report shall include all of the following information:

1. All revenues and expenditures of the state hospital, including specific identification of administrative costs for and the number of persons patients served at the state hospital.

2. A breakdown of The patients served, including information on the number of patients treated by diagnosis, the length of treatment and the number of patients making significant clinical progress.

3. The state hospital's work and results in the services and requirements set forth in sections 36-220, 36-221, 36-222, 36-223 and 36-224.

4. The number of patients transferred between the civil hospital, the forensic hospital and the Arizona community prevention and treatment center, the clinical or other reasons for the transfer and the length of time each transferred patient remained or is expected to remain in the reassigned location.

5. Admissions by civil commitment, including the number of admissions and discharges, the time between the request for admission and the date of admission, the reason any request for civil commitment was denied and the efforts made to reduce the time between a request for admission and the admission.

6. The state hospital's plans and priorities for improved or expanded clinical services, including plans to use technology-enhanced capabilities for clinical, educational and rehabilitation services for patients.

7. Information regarding The guilty except insane program for forensic patients, including the number of patients participating in the program and completing the program, a description of the components of the program and the best practices and fidelity measures supporting each component.

8. The state hospital's participation in cases before the psychiatric security review board, including the number of forensic patient cases before the board, the number of cases in which the hospital appeared before the board, provided a report to the board and made a recommendation to the board, and the number, nature and circumstances surrounding any revocation of conditional release that the state hospital initiated.

9. Information about the state hospital's use of evidence-based practices in its guilty except insane program, including the evidence-based practices in use and the standards and measurable goals used to evaluate the results of the program and to improve individualized treatment and discharge plans.

10. Priorities of the state hospital to improve patient outcomes and protect public safety and the resources needed to act on these priorities.

11. The Status of the establishment of a psychiatric center of excellence. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Title 36, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding sections 36-220, 36-221, 36-222, 36-223 and 36-224, to read:

START_STATUTE36-220. Staffing plan

The director, in consultation with the state hospital governing body, shall maintain a staffing plan that, in addition to effective clinical treatment, includes provisions to achieve acuity-based staffing with no or minimal use of contracted staff and that supports the assault reduction and response plan prescribed in section 36-222.END_STATUTE

START_STATUTE36-221. Master inpatient treatment plans; individualized treatment and discharge plans

A. Within thirty days after a patient's admission, a psychiatrist shall develop, document and supervise the implementation of a master inpatient treatment plan and an individualized treatment and discharge plan for each patient. EAch patient's master inpatient treatment plan and individualized treatment and discharge plans shall be:

1. Administered by or under the supervision of a psychiatrist.

2. Based on evidence-based treatment and include measurable clinical goals and criteria for the patient to attain those goals.

3. Reviewed and updated in consultation with the treatment team and the patient's family, guardian or designated representative as clinically necessary, but at least every ninety days.

B. In addition to the requirements of subsection A of this section, for forensic patients, each master inpatient treatment plan and individualized treatment and discharge plan shall both:

1. Focus on diagnoses that resulted in the patient being committed to the state hospital pursuant to section 13-3994 and any changes to those diagnoses.

2. Expressly relate to the criteria used by the psychiatric security review board in making its decisions as to the patient's conditional release, termination of jurisdiction over the patient or transfer of the patient to the state department of corrections or another authorized agency. END_STATUTE

START_STATUTE36-222. Assault reduction and response plan

The director shall contract with an independent third-party contractor to develop, implement and document an assault reduction and response plan that also addresses sexual assaults. The plan shall have as its goal the reduction in both the number of assaults and the resulting harm to patients and staff and shall include evaluation and reporting relating to:

1. The number, type, nature and circumstances of all assaults.

2. The number of assaults reported to local, state or federal regulatory agencies and how the assaults are reported.

3. The number of times that law enforcement was called to the state hospital in response to an assault.

4. The number and type of any employment actions taken against state hospital staff who are involved in a patient assault. END_STATUTE

START_STATUTE36-223. Psychiatric security review board requests

A. The state hospital shall respond timely and in good faith to requests from the psychiatric security review board in order to provide a patient with adequate time and information to prepare for a board meeting and the board with sufficient information on which to make an informed decision as to the matters before it.

B. At every statutory hearing for a patient, or on request from the psychiatric security review board, the state hospital shall provide the patient and the board, at least forty-five days before the hearing, with all of the following:

1. A report on the patient that contains information in a form and format as requested or prescribed by the psychiatric security review board.

2. A patient risk assessment.

3. An explanation of any rule violation by the patient and why the rule violation is relevant to any recommendation from the state hospital.

C. A patient's treating psychiatrist or a designee shall appear as a witness before the psychiatric security review board whenever the patient appears before the board.

START_STATUTE36-224. Surveillance system; storage requirements

A. Subject to available appropriations, The state hospital shall maintain A surveillance system that includes both audio and visual capability and secure storage of the audio and visual files for at least twenty-four months after the date of any incident that involved a patient assault with injuries.

B. The state hospital shall maintain surveillance videos in every assault involving a patient, including videos not containing audio, for at least twenty-four months. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Appropriation; department of health services; surveillance system; Arizona state hospital

The sum of $500,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2021-2022 to the department of health services to install and maintain a surveillance system with audio and visual capability at the Arizona state hospital pursuant to section 36-224, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.