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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 11, 2019 10:22 AM |
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| From: | Representative Dan L. Miller |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Mental Health Bed Registry |
| Colleagues, it is my intention to introduce legislation that directs the Department of Health to establish a mental health bed registry in Pennsylvania. My proposed legislation is closely aligned with Senator Bartolotta’s SB 179 of last session, and it is substantively similar to HB 858 of 2015-16 and HB 2267 from 2013-14. While most individuals with mental illness do not require inpatient treatment, finding an available bed in an appropriate treatment facility is a critical issue for those who do. There is currently no unified system to identify such placements. Under my legislation, the Pennsylvania Department of Health is required to establish a web-based mental health bed registry that is accessible to employees of mental health care facilities across the Commonwealth. The mental health bed registry will assist employees in locating available care for any individual who is in need of an inpatient examination and treatment. Under my bill, the mental health bed registry must include the following information: contact information for each mental health facility that includes a description of the facility, the number of beds available at each mental health facility, the level of security provided at each mental health facility, the type of patient that may be admitted into each mental health facility, and any other information that may be necessary to allow an employee to identify an appropriate placement for an individual who may receive voluntary or involuntary inpatient examination and treatment under Article II or III of Act 143, known as the Mental Health Procedures Act. Twenty two (22) other states plus the District of Columbia have passed bills into law that create a mental health bed registry. By establishing a mental health bed registry, we are protecting the safety of the individual in need of care, their family, and others they may interact with daily. Please consider co-sponsoring this important legislation. |
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| View Attachment | ||
Introduced as HB391