Health & Saf. Code, § 1279.8

(a) Every health facility, as defined in subdivision (c), (d), (e), (g), (h), (i), or (m) of Section 1250, shall, for the purpose of addressing issues that arise when a patient is missing from the facility, develop and comply with an absentee notification plan as part of the written plans and procedures that are required pursuant to federal or state law. The plan shall include and be limited to the following: a requirement that an administrator of the facility, or his or her designee, inform the patient’s authorized representative when that patient is missing from the facility and the circumstances in which an administrator of the facility, or his or her designee, shall notify local law enforcement when a patient is missing from the facility.

(b) This section shall not apply to state hospitals under the jurisdiction of the State Department of State Hospitals when the executive director of the state hospital, or his or her designee, determines that informing the patient’s authorized representative that a patient is missing will create a risk to the safety and security of the state hospital.