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, giving priority to the most ill patients, and shall not place any limit on admission based solely 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 of any meeting that the director attends.

2. The superintendent.

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

B. The chairperson of the independent oversight committee at the ARizona state hospital established pursuant to section 41-3803 shall be invited to each governing body meeting, shall provide a written report to the governing body at least quarterly and shall report to the governing body more frequently as the chairperson deems appropriate.

C. 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.

D. 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.

E. 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.

F. Except for the director and the superintendent, members of the governing body are eligible to receive compensation in an amount of $100 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

A. 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 at each facility at the state hospital, including information on the following:

(a) The number of patients treated by diagnosis.

(b) The length of treatment.

(d) the number of patients recommended to the psychiatric security review board for conditional release.

(e) The number of patients recommended for conditional release who were approved by the psychiatric security review board.

3. Admissions by civil commitment, including the number of admissions and discharges, the time between the request for each admission and the date of the admission or denial of the admission and the reason any request for civil commitment was denied.

4. A summary of the state hospital's current strategic plans for clinical services, including the use of technology-enhanced capabilities for clinical services.

5. Information about the state hospital's use of patient-centered, evidence-based, trauma informed practices in its guilty except insane program.

6. The use of contracted staff in the state hospital's staffing plan.

7. The state hospital's assault reduction plan, including all of the following:

(a) The number, type and circumstances of all assaults, with sexual assaults reported separately.

(b) The NUMBER OF assaults reported to law enforcement, regulatory agencies and accreditation agencies and how each assault was reported.

(d) The number and type of any employment actions taken against state hospital staff who were involved in a patient assault.

8. The Status of the establishment of a psychiatric center of excellence.

B. This section does not require the release of individually identifiable health information of any specific patient. END_STATUTE

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

START_STATUTE36-220. 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. Relate to the statutory 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_STATUTE36-221. 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, if clinically indicated.

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 at each statutory hearing regarding the patient's conditional release.

START_STATUTE36-222. Surveillance system; storage requirements

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 that required medical treatment. 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 36-222, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.

Sec. 6. Legislative intent

The legislature intends in section 36-202, subsection A, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, that patients across this state have access to the unique facilities and services of the state hospital that are the highest level of care in this state, based on severity of clinical need. The legislature does not intend section 36-202, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, to mean or be interpreted to mean that the state hospital must increase or needs to increase the number of beds that the state hospital operates. The legislature further intends that admission to the state hospital based on a patient's clinical need without regard to county of residence is in the interest of this state's public health and safety.