§ 27-65.5-101 — Eating disorder treatment and recovery facilities - rules

Colorado § 27-65.5-101

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 27: Behavioral
• Art.: Eating Disorder Treatment and Recovery Facilities

Text

(1)
No later than January 1, 2026, the behavioral health administration, established in
section 27-50-102, shall require all eating disorder treatment and recovery facilities
to hold an appropriate designation based on the level of care the facility provides,
including facilities that offer intensive outpatient treatment, partial hospitalization,
residential programs, and inpatient programs. Licensed clinicians who are not
facility-based and offer behavioral health therapy to individuals with an eating
disorder on an outpatient basis are not required to hold a designation.

(2) The state board of human services shall promulgate rules for eating
disorder treatment and recovery facilities that must:

(a) Allow a patient to request and have access to any medical examination,
including a weigh-in, without other patients present in the same room;

(b) Prohibit a treatment facility from requiring that a patient remove all
clothing during a weigh-in without providing clothing that sufficiently provides
privacy and covers the patient's body;

(c) Prohibit a treatment facility from requiring that a patient perform
physical exercises during a weigh-in, unless the treatment provider has sufficient
cause to believe that the patient would be at risk of harm, at which point the
treatment provider shall document the need for further investigation in the
patient's medical record and ask the patient to perform any physical exercise in a
location with sufficient privacy and in a way that preserves the patient's dignity to
the greatest extent possible;

(d) Require a treatment facility to provide gender nonconforming and
transgender patients with the same restroom policies provided for cisgender
patients;

(e) Prohibit a treatment facility from requiring that patients share a single
stall with a staff member or another patient while in the act of using the restroom;

(f) Require a treatment facility's policies to respect and accommodate a
patient's sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and, unless clinically
contraindicated, personal dietary ethics;

(g) Require the presence of appropriate and qualified staff to treat a patient
at all times, including during weigh-ins, restroom time, vital sign checks, and
behavioral health treatment and group therapy. If a staff member performs multiple
functions at a treatment facility, the rules must ensure providers preserve and
prioritize the therapeutic relationship between the staff member and patient.

(h) Address the use of restraints and restriction of a patient's allowed bodily
movement. The rules must ensure that restriction of movement is never used as a
form of punishment and that patients are permitted a minimum amount of physical
activity per day as clinically appropriate.

(i) Address the use of bed-based or room-based care, ensuring these
practices are used as a last resort and that staff meaningfully engage patients to
avoid these restrictive measures; except that this subsection (2)(i) does not apply to
an eating disorder program in a general hospital setting;

(j) Require a treatment facility to implement a trauma-informed treatment
framework;

(k) Establish the minimum rights each patient is entitled to at a treatment
facility and require that patient rights be publicly posted and provided to each
patient electronically and in writing. In addition, the formal grievance process for a
patient to file a complaint against the treatment facility through the behavioral
health administration for an alleged violation of the patient's rights must be
publicly posted and provided to each patient electronically and in writing.

(l) Prior to involuntarily placing a feeding tube for a minor patient, require the
eating disorder treatment and recovery facility to obtain informed written consent
from both the patient and the patient's parent or legal guardian if the patient is
fifteen years of age or older or from only the patient's parent or legal guardian if
the patient is fourteen years of age or younger. If a patient is fifteen years of age or
older and does not consent to or objects to the continued use of an involuntary
feeding tube, the patient may seek review pursuant to section 27-65-104 (6).

Legislative History

Source: L. 2024: Entire article added, (SB 24-117), ch. 443, p. 3091, � 1, effective June 6.