N.Y. MHY Law § 9.37 — New York Code / Act MHY / Title B / Article 9 / Section 9.37
Involuntary admission on certificate of a director of community services or his designee
Status: in_force

§ 9.37 Involuntary admission on certificate of a director of community\n         services or his designee.\n  * (a) The director of a hospital, upon application by a director of\ncommunity services or an examining physician duly designated by him or\nher, may receive and care for in such hospital as a patient any person\nwho, in the opinion of the director of community services or the\ndirector's designee, has a mental illness for which immediate inpatient\ncare and treatment in a hospital is appropriate and which is likely to\nresult in serious harm to himself or herself or others.\n  The need for immediate hospitalization shall be confirmed by a staff\nphysician of the hospital prior to admission. Within seventy-two hours,\nexcluding Sunday and holidays, after such admission, if such patient is\nto be retained for care and treatment beyond such time and he or she\ndoes not agree to remain in such hospital as a voluntary patient, the\ncertificate of another examining physician who is a member of the\npsychiatric staff of the hospital that the patient is in need of\ninvoluntary care and treatment shall be filed with the hospital. From\nthe time of his or her admission under this section the retention of\nsuch patient for care and treatment shall be subject to the provisions\nfor notice, hearing, review, and judicial approval of continued\nretention or transfer and continued retention provided by this article\nfor the admission and retention of involuntary patients, provided that,\nfor the purposes of such provisions, the date of admission of the\npatient shall be deemed to be the date when the patient was first\nreceived in the hospital under this section.\n  * NB Effective until July 1, 2027\n  * (a) The director of a hospital, upon application by a director of\ncommunity services or an examining physician duly designated by them,\nmay receive and care for in such hospital as a patient any person who,\nin the opinion of the director of community services or their designee,\nhas a mental illness for which immediate inpatient care and treatment in\na hospital is appropriate and which is likely to result in serious harm\nto themself or others. "Likelihood of serious harm" shall mean:\n  1. substantial risk of physical harm to themself as manifested by\nthreats of or attempts at suicide or serious bodily harm or other\nconduct demonstrating that they are dangerous to themself, or\n  2. a substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as manifested\nby homicidal or other violent behavior by which others are placed in\nreasonable fear or serious physical harm, or\n  3. a substantial risk of physical harm to the person due to an\ninability or refusal, as a result of their mental illness, to provide\nfor their own essential needs such as food, clothing, necessary medical\ncare, personal safety, or shelter.\n  The need for immediate hospitalization shall be confirmed by a staff\nphysician of the hospital prior to admission. Within seventy-two hours,\nexcluding Sunday and holidays, after such admission, if such patient is\nto be retained for care and treatment beyond such time and they do not\nagree to remain in such hospital as a voluntary patient, the certificate\nof another examining physician who is a member of the psychiatric staff\nof the hospital that the patient is in need of involuntary care and\ntreatment shall be filed with the hospital. From the time of their\nadmission under this section the retention of such patient for care and\ntreatment shall be subject to the provisions for notice, hearing,\nreview, and judicial approval of continued retention or transfer and\ncontinued retention provided by this article for the admission and\nretention of involuntary patients, provided that, for the purposes of\nsuch provisions, the date of admission of the patient shall be deemed to\nbe the date when the patient was first received in the hospital under\nthis section.\n  * NB Effective July 1, 2027\n  (b) The application for admission of a patient pursuant to this\nsection shall be based upon a personal examination by a director of\ncommunity services or his designee. It shall be in writing and shall be\nfiled with the director of such hospital at the time of the patient's\nreception, together with a statement in a form prescribed by the\ncommissioner giving such information as he may deem appropriate.\n  (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (b) of this section,\nin counties with a population of less than two hundred thousand, a\ndirector of community services who is a licensed psychologist pursuant\nto article one hundred fifty-three of the education law or a licensed\nclinical social worker pursuant to article one hundred fifty-four of the\neducation law but who is not a physician may apply for the admission of\na patient pursuant to this section without a medical examination by a\ndesignated physician, if a hospital approved by the commissioner\npursuant to section 9.39 of this article is not located within thirty\nmiles of the patient, and the director of community services has made a\nreasonable effort to locate a designated examining physician but such a\ndesignee is not immediately available and the director of community\nservices, after personal observation of the person, reasonably believes\nthat he may have a mental illness which is likely to result in serious\nharm to himself or others and inpatient care and treatment of such\nperson in a hospital may be appropriate. In the event of an application\npursuant to this subdivision, a physician of the receiving hospital\nshall examine the patient and shall not admit the patient unless he or\nshe determines that the patient has a mental illness for which immediate\ninpatient care and treatment in a hospital is appropriate and which is\nlikely to result in serious harm to himself or others. If the patient is\nadmitted, the need for hospitalization shall be confirmed by another\nstaff physician within twenty-four hours. An application pursuant to\nthis subdivision shall be in writing and shall be filed with the\ndirector of such hospital at the time of the patient's reception,\ntogether with a statement in a form prescribed by the commissioner\ngiving such information as he may deem appropriate, including a\nstatement of the efforts made by the director of community services to\nlocate a designated examining physician prior to making an application\npursuant to this subdivision.\n  (d) After signing the application, the director of community services\nor the director's designee shall be authorized and empowered to take\ninto custody, detain, transport, and provide temporary care for any such\nperson. Upon the written request of such director or the director's\ndesignee it shall be the duty of peace officers, when acting pursuant to\ntheir special duties, or police officers who are members of the state\npolice or of an authorized police department or force or of a sheriff's\ndepartment to take into custody and transport any such person as\nrequested and directed by such director or designee. Upon the written\nrequest of such director or designee, an ambulance service, as defined\nin subdivision two of section three thousand one of the public health\nlaw, is authorized to transport any such person.\n  (e) Reasonable expenses incurred by the director of community mental\nhygiene services or his designee for the examination and temporary care\nof the patient and his transportation to and from the hospital shall be\na charge upon the county from which the patient was admitted and shall\nbe paid from any funds available for such purposes.\n  (f) The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to continue\nany patient in a hospital who has already been admitted to the hospital\nunder this or any other section of this article.\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 commitment under this section.\n