Health facilities: emergency services and care.

(1) Existing law requires a health facility that maintains and operates an emergency department to provide emergency services and care to any person requesting the services or care for any condition in which the person is in danger of loss of life, or serious injury or illness, as specified. If a licensed health facility does not maintain an emergency department, its employees are nevertheless required to exercise reasonable care to determine whether an emergency exists and to direct the person seeking emergency care to a nearby facility that can render the needed services, as specified. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a crime. This bill would specify that a psychiatric unit within a general acute care hospital, a psychiatric health facility, or an acute psychiatric hospital, excluding certain state hospitals, regardless of whether it operates an emergency department, is required to provide emergency services and care to treat a person with a psychiatric emergency medical condition who has been accepted by the facility, as specified, if the facility has appropriate facilities and qualified personnel. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions. The bill would also prohibit a general acute care hospital or an acute psychiatric hospital, as a condition to accepting a transfer of a patient from another health facility, from requiring that the patient be in custody as a result of a mental health disorder causing him or her to be a danger to others or himself or herself, or is gravely disabled. By expanding these duties, this bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.