New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 14 - DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE
Chapter XIII - Office of Mental Health
Part 582 - Operation Of Hospitals For Persons With Mental Illness
Section 582.6 - Program

(1) The program of services shall be provided in accordance with the principle of continuity of care whereby a single number of the professional clinical staff shall exercise primary responsibility for each patient at all times.

(2) Direct service to patients shall be provided in accordance with an individual written plan of care and rehabilitation, specifying the nature of the conditions and the disabilities fond to be present and those which are to be affected, relating these to the methods of care, treatment and rehabilitation to be provided, identifying the intended benefits of care and treatment, and providing for appropriate review and revision.

(3) A single case record which contains current information regarding diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of results of care or treatment for each patient shall be available to all professional staff involved in the care or treatment of that person.

(4) The treatment programs provided by the hospital shall include active therapeutic services, including but not limited to individual and group psychotherapy and psychiatric nursing care.

(5) A physician and a nurse shall be on duty at the hospital at all times, and other medical staff shall be available on call as needed.

(6) The hospital shall have continuously in force a written policy regarding prescription dispensing and administration of medications, including appropriate time limits for prescriptions or drug orders, requirements for review by the physician responsible, and the use of a formulary.

(1) All admissions shall be in accordance with the provisions of article 31 of the Mental Hygiene Law in a form and format designated by the office.

(2) The certified bed capacity of the hospital shall not be exceeded at any time.

(3) If minors under the age of 18 are admitted to the hospital, they shall not be commingled with adults in areas of the hospital where the adults reside, nor shall they receive services in groups which include adults. In extraordinary circumstances, such commingling may be permitted upon written approval of the office on a situational and time-limited basis.

(1) All discharges shall be in accordance with the provisions of section 29.15 of the Mental Hygiene Law, in a form and format designed by the office.

(2) A hospital shall be prohibited from discharging any person with serious mental illness to a transitional adult home, as defined in regulations of the Commissioner of Health, unless the person was a resident of the home immediately prior to his or her current period of hospitalization.