(a) The commissioner may authorize the director of a hospital (referred to in this section as the “evacuating hospital”) to arrange with one or more directors of OMH hospitals, designated by the commissioner or a designee thereof, for the immediate emergency accommodation of patients, upon a determination that:

(b) Emergency accommodation shall be provided to all patients in need of such accommodation, regardless of their admission status.

(c) When a patient is provided with emergency accommodation pursuant to this section, the evacuating hospital shall give notice in accordance with section 517.7(c) of this Part.

(d) Upon alleviation of the condition which caused emergency accommodation of a patient, such patient shall be offered the opportunity to return to the evacuating hospital. Any patient who elects to remain at the hospital which provided emergency accommodation may be permitted to do so if such hospital agrees to formal admission of the patient and if, based on the criteria established in section 517.4(d)(1) of this Part, the patient's best interests would be better served by admission to such hospital than by return to the evacuating hospital. In such case, the directors of the evacuating hospital and of the hospital which provided emergency accommodation shall cooperate in effecting the patient's formal admission to the latter hospital.