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REFERENCE TITLE: state hospital; bed availability |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session 2024
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SB 1682 |
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Introduced by Senators Gowan: Shamp
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An Act
amending sections 36-202 and 36-541, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the Arizona state hospital.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 36-202, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
36-202. Arizona state hospital; purpose; facilities and equipment
A. A state hospital shall be maintained for the care and treatment of 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 and care of 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.
Sec. 2. Section 36-541, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
36-541. Mandatory local treatment; placement at state hospital
A. A patient who is ordered by a court to undergo treatment and who is not hospitalized in the state hospital at the time of the order shall undergo treatment for at least twenty-five days in a local mental health treatment agency that is geographically convenient for the patient before being hospitalized in the state hospital. This section does not apply if the court finds, at a hearing on court-ordered treatment, that the patient's present condition and history demonstrate that the patient will not benefit from the required period of treatment in a local mental health treatment agency or that the state hospital provides a program that is specific to the needs of the patient and is unavailable in the local mental health treatment agency, or when there is no local mental health treatment agency readily available to the patient. Such a finding shall be based at least on the annual written description by the state hospital of programs and services available and appropriate written reports from the medical director of the local mental health treatment agency. The patient may be immediately hospitalized at the state hospital whenever the court determines that this section does not apply.
B. A patient who is ordered by a court to undergo treatment may be admitted for treatment if the patient is accepted by the superintendent of the state hospital for treatment at the state hospital or if the court orders placement at the state hospital pursuant to subsection A or C of this section.
C. During any period of court-ordered treatment, the medical director of the local mental health treatment agency assigned to supervise and administer the patient's treatment program may file a motion requesting the court to amend the treatment order to place the patient for treatment at the state hospital. After a hearing, if the court finds that the patient's present condition and history demonstrate that the patient will not benefit from a continued period of treatment in or by a local mental health treatment agency, either as an inpatient or an outpatient, or that the state hospital provides a program that is specific to the needs of the patient and is unavailable in a local mental health treatment agency, and that the least restrictive placement to meet the needs of the patient for the foreseeable future is placement in the state hospital and there is a legally available funded bed in the state hospital, the court may amend the original treatment order authorizing the placement of the patient at the state hospital pursuant to section 36-540, subsection A, paragraph 2 or 3. Within five days after receiving notice from the court, the superintendent shall notify the court whether a bed is available in the state hospital.