BILL NUMBER: AB 2743INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eggman FEBRUARY 19, 2016 An act to add Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 1289) to Chapter 2 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health facilities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2743, as introduced, Eggman. Psychiatric bed registry. Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses and regulates health facilities, as defined. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, provides for the involuntary commitment and treatment of persons with specified mental disorders for the protection of the persons so committed. Under the act, when a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled, he or she may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody by a peace officer, a member of the attending staff of an evaluation facility, designated members of a mobile crisis team, or another designated professional person, and placed in a facility designated by the county and approved by the State Department of Social Services as a facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation. Beginning July 1, 2017, this bill would require the department to establish and administer an Internet Web site-based electronic registry, known as the acute psychiatric bed registry, to collect, aggregate, and display information regarding the availability of acute psychiatric beds in health facilities to facilitate the identification and designation of health facilities for the temporary detention and treatment of individuals who meet specified criteria for temporary detention. The bill would require a health facility to, on or before July 1, 2017, designate an employee to submit to the registry notification that an acute psychiatric bed has become available at the health facility and to serve as the contact person to respond to requests for information related to data reported to the registry, as provided. This bill would provide that a violation of its provisions is not a crime under existing law. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 1289) is added to Chapter 2 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code, to read: Article 3.7. Acute Psychiatric Bed Registry 1289. For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply: (a) "Designated employee" means the employee designated by a health facility pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1289.4. (b) "Registry" means the acute psychiatric bed registry established pursuant to subdivision (a) Section 1289.2. 1289.2 (a) On or before July 1, 2017, the department shall establish an Internet Web site-based electronic acute psychiatric bed registry to collect, aggregate, and display information regarding the availability of acute psychiatric beds in health facilities to facilitate the identification and designation of health facilities having beds available for the temporary detention and treatment of individuals who require that level of care or who meet the criteria for temporary detention under Section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (b) The department shall administer the operation of the registry. (c) When the registry becomes operational, the department shall notify each health facility that the registry is operational. 1289.4. (a) On or before July 1, 2017, a health facility shall designate an employee who shall submit information for inclusion in the acute psychiatric bed registry and serve as the contact person to respond to requests for information related to data reported to the registry. (b) On and after the date on which the department notifies a health facility that the registry is operational pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 1289.2, the health facility, through its designated employee pursuant to subdivision (a), shall submit to the registry notification that an acute psychiatric bed has become available, upon the bed becoming available, at the health facility. 1289.6. Notwithstanding Article 4 (commencing with Section 1290), a violation of this article is not a crime.