Title X, Public Health

Upon request, the office of the sheriff of the county in which any person is located who is to be taken into custody in accordance with RSA 135-C:62 shall take said person into custody and transport that person to the appropriate destination.

I. As used in this section: (a) "Records" means records of interviews, internal reviews and investigations, and all reports, statements, minutes, memoranda, charts, statistics, and other documentation generated during the activities of a quality assurance program. Records shall n…

The commissioner shall maintain behavioral health services for children and adolescents in one or more facilities as designated by the commissioner. All services for children and adolescents shall be appropriate for each child's developmental stage and shall address the education…

Children subject to proceedings in juvenile court may be admitted to a child inpatient psychiatric treatment facility within the state mental health system for evaluation, care, or treatment only upon prior approval of the commissioner or designee.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, records regarding children receiving child inpatient psychiatric treatment at a facility within the state mental health system, pursuant to RSA 169-B, 169-C, or 169-D shall be exchanged between employees of the department to facilitate…

The commissioner shall adopt rules relative to eligibility criteria and procedures for admission to and discharge from facilities within the state mental health system that provide inpatient psychiatric treatment to children.

There is established a commission to study the delivery of behavioral crisis services to individuals with mental illness whose impairment is primarily due to intellectual disability. I. Notwithstanding RSA 14:49, the members of the commission shall be as follows: (a) Four members…

I. When the county attorney or attorney general files a petition seeking to have a person declared a sexually violent predator, within 10 days of the filing of the petition, the court shall determine whether probable cause exists to believe that the person named in the petition i…

Any city, county, town, or nonprofit corporation may establish and administer a community mental health program for the purpose of providing mental health services to individuals and organizations in the area. Every program shall, at a minimum, provide emergency, medical or psych…

I. The commissioner of the department of education and the commissioner of the department of health and human services shall enter into an interagency agreement which supports full implementation of a system of care. The agreement shall be completed no later than December 1, 2017…

I. The department of health and human services shall establish and maintain an information clearinghouse for families seeking information regarding children's behavioral health services. The clearinghouse functions required by this section may be assigned to an entity that has re…

The department may contract with a private entity or state agency for use of and operation of facilities to comply with the requirements of this chapter.

Any city, county, or town, upon consultation with the commissioner, may establish a community mental health program and staff it with persons specially trained in psychiatry and related fields. Such programs may be administered by a city, county, or town and the municipality may …

The department of education and the department of health and human services shall create a system of care advisory committee to improve the well-being of children and families; promote coordination across state agencies; identify cost-savings, opportunities to increase efficiency…

I. The person or the county attorney or attorney general has the right to demand that the trial be before a jury. A demand for a jury trial must be filed, in writing, no later than 30 days after the finding of probable cause. If no demand is made, the trial shall be to the court.…

Any city, county, or town may raise and appropriate funds to assist a nonprofit corporation administering a community mental health program; provided that the program has been approved by the commissioner.

The purpose of this chapter is to support the needs of individuals who have sustained brain and spinal cord injuries.

This chapter shall be known as the "New Hampshire POLST Registry Act."

I. The state of New Hampshire recognizes that individual persons have the right, founded in the autonomy and sanctity of a person, to control the decisions relating to the rendering of their own medical care. In order that the rights of persons may be respected even after such pe…

In this chapter: I. "Brain and spinal cord injury" means any injury to the brain or spinal cord which causes death or requires medical care and treatment or results in long-term disability. II. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the department of health and human services. …

I. The withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall at no time be construed as a suicide or murder for any legal purpose. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to legalize, constitute, condone, authorize, or approve …

Liability for the cost of health care provided pursuant to the agent's or surrogate's decision shall be the same as if the health care were provided pursuant to the principal's decision.

I. No person acting as agent pursuant to an advance directive or acting as a surrogate shall be subjected to criminal or civil liability for making a health care decision on behalf of the principal in good faith pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and the terms of the adva…

I. Every person wishing to execute an advance directive shall be provided with a disclosure statement substantially in the form set forth in RSA 137-J:19 prior to execution. II. An advance directive executed on or after the effective date of this chapter shall be substantially in…

I. The advance directive shall be signed by the principal in the presence of either of the following: (a) Two or more subscribing witnesses, neither of whom shall, at the time of execution, be the agent or surrogate, the principal's spouse or heir at law, or a person entitled to …

I. An advance directive consistent with the provisions of this chapter shall be revoked: (a) By written revocation delivered to the agent or surrogate or to a health care provider or residential care provider expressing the principal's intent to revoke, signed and dated by the pr…

Nothing in this chapter limits the enforceability of an advance directive or similar instrument validly executed under prior New Hampshire law.

A DNR, POLST, durable power of attorney for health care, living will, or similar document executed in another state, and valid according to the laws of the state where it was executed, shall be as effective in this state as it would have been if executed according to the laws of …

If the principal lists more than one person as the agent in a durable power of attorney for health care directive, the agents shall have authority in priority of the order in which their names are listed on the document, unless the method of joint agency is expressly included.

The disclosure statement which must accompany an advance directive shall be in substantially the following form: AN ADVANCE DIRECTIVE IS A LEGAL DOCUMENT. YOU SHOULD KNOW THESE FACTS BEFORE SIGNING IT. BULLET This form allows you to choose who you want to make decisions about you…

In this chapter: I. "Authorized user" means a person authorized by the department to provide information to or receive information from the POLST registry. II. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the department of health and human services. III. "Department" means the depart…

I. There is established the New Hampshire brain and spinal cord injury advisory council in the department. II. (a) The advisory council shall consist of the following voting members: (1) One member of the Spinal Cord Injury Association, appointed by such association. (2) One memb…

In this chapter: I. "Actively dying" means an incurable condition caused by injury, disease, or illness which is such that death is imminent and the application of life-sustaining treatment would, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty only postpone the moment of death to an…

An advance directive in its individual "Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care" and "Living Will" components shall be in substantially the following form: NEW HAMPSHIRE ADVANCE DIRECTIVE FORM Name (Principal's Name): __________________________________________________ DOB: ____…

I. On motion filed in connection with a petition for appointment of a guardian or on petition of a guardian if one has been appointed, the probate court shall consider whether the authority of an agent designated pursuant to an advance directive should be suspended or revoked. In…

I. The principal or any person who is a near relative of the principal, or who is a responsible adult who is directly interested in the principal by personal knowledge and acquaintance, including, but not limited to a guardian, social worker, physician, or member of the clergy, m…

A person who knowingly and falsely makes, alters, forges, or counterfeits, or knowingly and falsely causes to be made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, or procures, aids or counsels the making, altering, forging, or counterfeiting, of an advance directive or revocation of same …

The provisions of this subdivision apply to all persons regardless of whether or not they have completed an advance directive.

I. Every person shall be presumed to consent to the administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest, unless one or more of the following conditions, of which the health care provider or residential care provider has actual knowledge, …

I. An attending practitioner may issue a do not resuscitate order for a person if the person, or the person's agent or surrogate, has consented to the order. A do not resuscitate order shall be issued in writing in the form as described in this section for a person not present or…

I. Health care providers and residential care providers shall comply with the do not resuscitate order when presented with one of the following: (a) A do not resuscitate order or POLST that indicates Do Not Resuscitate completed by the attending practitioner on a form as specifie…

I. No health care provider or residential care provider, or any other person acting for the provider or under the provider's control, shall be subjected to criminal or civil liability, or be deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct, for carrying out in good faith a do not…

I. At any time a principal admitted as an inpatient or outpatient to a health care facility may revoke a do not resuscitate or POLST order by making either a written, oral, or other act of communication to the attending practitioner or other professional staff of the health care …

I. No health care provider or residential care provider, and no health care service plan, insurer issuing disability insurance, self-insured employee welfare benefit plan, or nonprofit hospital service plan shall charge a person a different rate because of the existence or non-ex…

The commissioner shall, after consultation with the advisory council established in RSA 137-K:2, adopt rules under RSA 541-A relative to: I. Direct assistance, service coordination, family support activities for individuals with serious brain or spinal cord injuries and their fam…

I. Subject to sufficient funding, the department shall establish and operate a statewide registry for the collection and dissemination of provider orders for life-sustaining treatment to help ensure that medical treatment preferences for an individual nearing the end of his or he…