N.Y. MHY Law § 9.40 — New York Code / Act MHY / Title B / Article 9 / Section 9.40
Emergency observation, care and treatment in comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs
Status: in_force

* § 9.40 Emergency observation, care and treatment in comprehensive\n           psychiatric emergency programs.\n  (a) The director of any comprehensive psychiatric emergency program\nmay receive and retain therein for a period not to exceed seventy-two\nhours, any person alleged to have a mental illness for which immediate\nobservation, care and treatment in such program is appropriate and which\nis likely to result in serious harm to the person or others. The\ndirector shall cause to be entered upon the program records the name of\nthe person or persons, if any, who have brought the person alleged to\nhave a mental illness to the program and the details of the\ncircumstances leading the person or persons to bring the person alleged\nto have a mental illness to the program. The director shall, in\naccordance with section 33.13 of this chapter, upon receipt of a person\nunder this section, ensure that reasonable efforts are made to identify\nand promptly notify any community provider of mental health services\nthat maintains such person on its caseload.\n  (a-1) The director shall cause triage and referral services to be\nprovided by a psychiatric nurse practitioner or physician of the program\nas soon as such person is received into the comprehensive psychiatric\nemergency program. After receiving triage and referral services, such\nperson shall be appropriately treated and discharged, or referred for\nfurther crisis intervention services including an examination by a\nphysician as described in subdivision (b) of this section.\n  (b) The director shall cause examination of such persons not\ndischarged after the provision of triage and referral services to be\ninitiated by a staff physician of the program as soon as practicable and\nin any event within six hours after the person is received into the\nprogram's emergency room. Such person may be retained for observation,\ncare and treatment and further examination for up to twenty-four hours\nif, at the conclusion of such examination, such physician determines\nthat such person may have a mental illness for which immediate\nobservation, care and treatment in a comprehensive psychiatric emergency\nprogram is appropriate, and which is likely to result in serious harm to\nthe person or others.\n  (c) No person shall be involuntarily retained in accordance with this\nsection for more than twenty-four hours, unless (i) within that time the\ndetermination of the examining staff physician has been confirmed after\nexamination by another physician who is a member of the psychiatric\nstaff of the program and (ii) the person is admitted to an extended\nobservation bed, as such term is defined in section 31.27 of this\nchapter. At the time of admission to an extended observation bed, such\nperson shall be served with written notice of his status and rights as a\npatient under this section. Such notice shall contain the patient's\nname. The notice shall be provided to the same persons and in the manner\nas if provided pursuant to subdivision (a) of section 9.39 of this\narticle. Written requests for court hearings on the question of need for\nimmediate observation, care and treatment shall be made, and court\nhearings shall be scheduled and held, in the manner provided pursuant to\nsubdivision (a) of section 9.39 of this article, provided however, if a\nperson is removed or admitted to a hospital pursuant to subdivision (e)\nor (f) of this section the director of such hospital shall be\nsubstituted for the director of the comprehensive psychiatric emergency\nprogram in all legal proceedings regarding the continued retention of\nthe person.\n  (d) If at any time it is determined that the person is no longer in\nneed of immediate observation, care and treatment in accordance with\nthis section and is not in need of involuntary care and treatment in a\nhospital, such person shall be released without regard to the provisions\nof section 29.15 of this chapter, unless such person agrees to be\nadmitted to another appropriate hospital as a voluntary or informal\npatient. Provided, however, the facility shall:\n  1. advise such person of clinically appropriate aftercare services;\nand\n  2. for individuals with complex needs, as defined by the regulations\nof the office:\n  (i) for individuals in care management programs, coordinate discharge\nplanning with the care management program; and\n  (ii) provide referrals, if clinically appropriate and available, for\ncare management services, community-based services, residential\nservices, or peerbased programs; and\n  3. comply with additional requirements as may be set forth by the\nregulations of the office of mental health.\n  (e) If at any time within the seventy-two hour period it is determined\nthat such person continues to require immediate observation, care and\ntreatment in accordance with this section and such requirement is likely\nto continue beyond the seventy-two hour period, such person shall be\nremoved within a reasonable period of time to an appropriate hospital\nauthorized to receive and retain patients pursuant to section 9.39 of\nthis article and such person shall be evaluated for admission and, if\nappropriate, shall be admitted to such hospital in accordance with\nsection 9.39 of this article, except that if the person is admitted, the\nfifteen day retention period of subdivision (b) of section 9.39 of this\narticle shall be calculated from the time such person was initially\nregistered into the emergency room of the comprehensive psychiatric\nemergency program. Any person removed to a hospital pursuant to this\nparagraph shall be removed without regard to the provisions of section\n29.11 or 29.15 of this chapter and shall not be considered to have been\ntransferred or discharged to another hospital.\n  (f) Nothing in this section shall preclude the involuntary admission\nof a person to an appropriate hospital pursuant to the provisions of\nthis article if at any time during the seventy-two hour period it is\ndetermined that the person is in need of involuntary care and treatment\nin a hospital and the person does not agree to be admitted to a hospital\nas a voluntary or informal patient. Efforts shall be made to assure that\nany arrangements for such involuntary admissions in an appropriate\nhospital shall be made within a reasonable period of time.\n  (g) If a person is examined and determined to be mentally ill the fact\nthat such person suffers from alcohol or substance abuse shall not\npreclude receipt or retention under this section.\n  (h) All time periods referenced in this section shall be calculated\nfrom the time such person is initially registered into the emergency\nroom of the comprehensive psychiatric emergency program.\n  * NB Repealed July 1, 2027\n