Jacobs

I.

Introduction

Plaintiff Fern Jacobs appeals a summary judgment in favor of defendant Grossmont Hospital on Jacobs’s complaint for professional negligence and premises liability. The action arose when Jacobs, following an unsuccessful suicide attempt, tripped and sustained injuries while at Grossmont Hospital during a 72-hour hold under Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150, which allows temporary detention of mentally disordered individuals who pose a danger either to themselves or to others, for treatment and evaluation. . The court granted summary judgment for Grossmont Hospital on the ground that the immunity of section 5278 applied to all civil tort liability related to an admission under a lawful section 5150 hold.

The issue before us is the scope of the immunity granted under section 5278 to “[individuals authorized ... to detain.” Jacobs maintains that the immunity applies only to the decision to detain a person for a 72-hour hold. /■Grossmont Hospital contends that if the decision to detain is lawful, that is, supported by probable cause, then the immunity applies to all evaluation and ' treatment that may occur during the detention, with the possible…