Los Angeles Jewish Home

The Los Angeles Jewish Home's renowned geriatric psychiatry unit receives approval to accept involuntary holds

(RESEDA, CA)  In an ongoing effort to provide life-enhancing programs for the neediest elderly, the Lisa and Ernest Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit of the Los Angeles Jewish Home has been designated by Los Angeles County as an LPS facility.  With this designation, short for the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, or LPS, the Unit can immediately begin accepting involuntary admissions. 

Also known as Section 5150, a section of the California Welfare and Institution Code, the LPS designation allows a qualified licensed clinician or peace officer to involuntarily confine a person deemed to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to themselves and/or others, or whose psychiatric condition prevents the individual from being able to provide for food, clothing, and/or shelter, and there is no indication that anyone is willing or able to assist in procuring these needs.

Upon receipt of the LPS designation, the Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit now has the capability to accept involuntary patients under special circumstances.  When patients are suffering from significant mental or emotional illness but are in denial about the seriousness of their condition, they may be considered for a 72-hour hold under the California Mental Health law, or LPS Act.  This hold facilitates their short-term admission to the Unit for a period of observation, evaluation, and treatment.  "This is a significant accomplishment that will allow the Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit to begin serving individuals with acute psychiatric needs from the community, as well as providing such care for residents at the Jewish Home," states Brett Fielder, chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Jewish Home.

The Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit, which has earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval and is Medicare Certified, is one of the few facilities in Los Angeles solely dedicated to the psychiatric treatment of seniors.  In addition to involuntary admission, the Unit has been providing voluntary admission services to the community's seniors for more than a year.  Individuals who are 60 years and older and have a
primary psychiatric diagnosis that requires intensive, short-term care, may be admitted 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  The average length of stay for a voluntary admission is 10-14 days, but varies with each individual.  Following treatment, patients return to their prior residences unless discharge placement is requested.   For information regarding the Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit, please call (818) 758-5042.

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