How big an issue is a removal to a psychiatric unit to get the resident out?
If somebody has a heart attack, it’s a clear medical decision to move him to a hospital. In nonemergency situations, transfer requires the informed consent of the resident or the resident’s authorized representative. But it’s not unusual for hard-to-manage nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s and other dementia to be committed from nursing home facilities to psychiatric units against their will. This also can happen in assisted-care facilities. When the nursing home decides to send the person out for a pysch evaluation, state law governs the process. Generally, there’s a short hold period of, say, 72 hours, which varies state to state. The individual is placed in the care of the county or state where he or she resides. That is followed by some kind of adjudication, which allows the person to be held against his or her will for a longer period or be returned to the care of his family. Some cynical nursing home administrators try to evade the eviction requirements by transferring the
