Records and reports as to institution residents - R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 40.1-2-6

The department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities, and hospitals1 must maintain records for every individual institutionalized in one of the department’s facilities. Records must contain the person’s “name, residence, sex, age, nativity, occupation, condition, and date of entrance or commitment” in the facility, condition upon discharge, transfer information, and, if applicable, date and cause of death. The managing officer of a facility must provide the department with such records within 24 hours of a “commitment, entrance, death, or discharge.” In the event of “an accident, injury or death under peculiar circumstances,” the managing officer must report information about the event to the director within 24 hours. The director and department employees are the only parties that may access such records unless the director, governor, or judge orders otherwise.