state hospital; bed capacity
SB 1060 allows the Department of Health Services to temporarily establish a waiting list for admission of adults that are civilly committed for treatment or found guilty except insane into the Arizona State Hospital when it reaches its funded capacity. Extends the expiration date of a previous 1999 waiting list provision for admission for adults under restoration for competency and adolescents from June 2001 to June 2003.
The Arizona State Hospital is the only single state operated psychiatric inpatient facility. The hospital provides inpatient care and treatment for persons with serious mental illness who are court-ordered to the facility on either a civil or criminal commitment. The hospital currently has 335 available beds to serve eleven different populations:
1. Adult Civil – Court ordered
2. Adult Civil – Placed by a guardian
3. Adult Forensic - Restoration to competency
4. Adult Forensic – Observation awaiting trial
5. Adult Forensic – Not guilty by reason of insanity
6. Adult Forensic – Guilty except insane
7. Adult Forensic - Death row inmate/Restore to competency
8. Adult Female Forensic- Transfer of prisoner
9. Adolescent Civil
10. Adolescent Forensic
11. Sexually Violent Persons
Since the hospital operates as an inpatient facility, it is eligible for accreditation to receive Medicare funding from the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA).
According the DHS, in 1997 the hospital received approximately $29.1 million in federal monies through its Medicare accreditation. Due to staffing shortages, overcrowding and a lack of active treatment and physical deficiencies, the hospital had to withdraw from the Medicare program in June 1997.
During the 1999 legislative session, HB 2478 passed to temporarily establish a waiting list for admission of adults under restoration for competency and adolescents into the Arizona State Hospital when it reaches its funded capacity. The bill was drafted to prevent overcrowding and maintain safe conditions in the hospital.
The hospital became re-certified for Medicare last year and during the 2000 legislative session $80 million was appropriated for new hospital construction and renovation. Most of the hospital construction is scheduled for completion in 2003.
SB 1060 extends the waiting list provision in statute established in 1999 for adults under restoration for competency and adolescents for two more years. The bill also establishes the same provision in statute for adults that are civilly committed for treatment or found guilty except insane to avoid census violations during hospital construction that could jeopardize the Medicare accreditation of the hospital.