ENROLLED
ACT No. 372
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 79
BY REPRESENTATIVE MCMAHEN
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 28:2(39)(a)(introductory paragraph) and R.S. 40:2155(B),
3 relative to treatment facilities for mental health patients; to provide a definition; to
4 provide for service locations of certain treatment facilities; and to provide for related
5 matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 28:2(39)(a)(introductory paragraph) is hereby amended and
8 reenacted to read as follows:
9 §2. Definitions
10 * * *
11 (39)(a) "Treatment facility" means any public or private hospital, retreat,
12 institution, mental health center, or facility licensed by the state in which any person
13 who has a mental illness or person who is suffering from a substance-related or
14 addictive disorder is received or detained as a patient or client. The term includes
15 Veterans Administration and public health hospitals and forensic facilities.
16 "Treatment facility" includes but is not limited to the following, and shall be selected
17 with consideration of first, medical suitability; second, least restriction of the
18 person's liberty; third, nearness to the patient's usual residence; and fourth, financial
19 or other status of the patient; and fifth, patient's expressed preference, except that
20 such considerations shall not apply to forensic facilities:
21 * * *
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HB NO. 79 ENROLLED
1 Section 2. R.S. 40:2155(B) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
2 §2155. Licensure of behavioral health services providers
3 * * *
4 B.(1) A license issued to a behavioral health services provider shall be valid
5 for only one geographic location and shall be issued only for the person and premises
6 named in the license application.
7 (2) The geographic service location for a public or private behavioral health
8 services provider licensed pursuant to this Part shall be defined to include the parish
9 in which the provider's business office is located, any parish contiguous to the parish
10 in which the provider's business office is located, and any distance within a fifty mile
11 radius of the provider's business office.
12 * * *
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.