1250.2 - Health & Safety Code

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CHAPTER 2. HEALTH FACILITIES

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

CHAPTER 2. HEALTH FACILITIES
Article 1. General

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1250.2.

(a) As defined in Section 1250, "health facility" includes
a "psychiatric health facility," defined to mean a health facility,
licensed by the State Department of Mental Health, that provides
24-hour inpatient care for mentally disordered, incompetent, or other
persons described in Division 5 (commencing with Section 5000) or
Division 6 (commencing with Section 6000) of the Welfare and
Institutions Code. This care shall include, but not be limited to,
the following basic services: psychiatry, clinical psychology,
psychiatric nursing, social work, rehabilitation, drug
administration, and appropriate food services for those persons whose
physical health needs can be met in an affiliated hospital or in
outpatient settings.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the psychiatric health
facility shall provide a distinct type of service to psychiatric
patients in a 24-hour acute inpatient setting. The State Department
of Mental Health shall require regular utilization reviews of
admission and discharge criteria and lengths of stay in order to
assure that these patients are moved to less restrictive levels of
care as soon as appropriate.