Title 42
State Affairs and Government

Chapter 12.1
Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals

R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-12.1-10

§ 42-12.1-10. The Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital.

(a)  A new hospital is hereby established to furnish care to any adult patient in Rhode Island requiring inpatient psychiatric care, and who meets at least one of the following criteria:

(1)  The individual has been determined to require specialized mental health care and psychiatric inpatient services that cannot be provided in a correctional facility as defined in § 40.1-5.3-7;

(2)  The individual has been ordered to inpatient care by a court of competent jurisdiction for the purpose of competency evaluation, competency restoration, if indicated, and treatment;

(3) The individual has been ordered to the forensic unit after a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity until such time, subject to a determination of the director or the director’s designee, the individual may be safely managed in a civil unit of Eleanor Slater hospital;

(4) The individual has been transferred to the Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital from the department of corrections when specialized services are required that are better provided in a hospital setting and are provided until such time, in the discretion of the director, the patient’s condition has improved to the point at which the patient may be returned to the adult correctional institutions and to receive sufficient treatment, as approved by a judge of the district court or a justice of the superior court pursuant to the applicable procedures and requirements of §§ 40.1-5.3-6, 40.1-5.3-7, 40.1-5.3-8, 40.1-5.3-9 and/or 40.1-5.3-9.1.

(b) The new hospital shall be named the Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital and shall consist of facilities, or any units of such facilities, on the grounds of the John O. Pastore center in Cranston, Rhode Island, as licensed by the department of health.

(c) The Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital shall be operated by the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals and shall be licensed by the department of health pursuant to chapter 17 of title 23; however, the Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital shall be a separate licensed entity from the Eleanor Slater hospital.

(d) The director of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals is authorized to take such actions as may be necessary or prudent to establish the Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital consistent with this chapter.

History of Section.
P.L. 2022, ch. 231, art. 11, § 10, effective June 27, 2022.