Patient Administration - Army Publishing Directorate - U.S. Army

4–3. Comfort items for patients
a. General. The hospital commander may designate an officer under his or her command to account for a sum of
money not to exceed $50 per month from the accrued pay of a member in bed-occupied status who has been declared
mentally incompetent according to the provisions of a sanity board. (See para 7-6.) This money may be used only for
the purchase of comfort items for the benefit of the patient. Withdrawals may be authorized only when all the
following exist:
(1) A legal guardian or other legal representative has not been duly appointed to act for the member.
(2) The Soldier has no other funds available for use in his or her behalf. (Monies held in trust in the patients’ trust
fund (PTF) to his or her credit will not be considered as funds available.)
(3) The patient requires the items to be purchased, as determined by competent authority.
(4) The patient’s condition is such that he or she is able to use the items purchased.
(5) Such items are beneficial to the patient’s comfort and well-being.
b. Receipt. The funds will be hand receipted by the officer designated on behalf of the mentally incompetent. The
voucher will reflect this paragraph and regulation as the authority for receipt.
4–4. Government property
Military patients sent to an MTF will leave individual weapons and organizational equipment with their unit. If a
patient brings Government property to an MTF, it will be properly safeguarded. When a patient is admitted, his or her
personal effects will be inventoried immediately and Government-owned weapons and other organizational equipment
will be returned to the patient’s assigned unit, if possible, and a receipt obtained (DA Form 4160 (Patient’s Personal
Effects and Clothing Record)) and filed (File Number (FN) 40-400aa) (AR 25-400-2). Otherwise, the commanding
officer of the warrior transition unit (WTU) or medical company will place any other Government equipment in the
custody of their supply personnel. Weapons that cannot be immediately returned to the parent unit will be receipted to
the local military police authority. DA Form 4160 is available on the APD Web site (www.apd.army.mil).
4–5. Personal effects
Patient clothing and baggage will be secured based upon patient needs. The MTF commander determines when the
needs of the organization require establishment of a baggage room. Night stands and lockers on wards may be used to
accommodate patient clothing. Patients should be encouraged to deposit valuables into the PTF. (See chap 11.) The
MTF commander may exempt or require any patient to secure clothing, baggage, and any other personal effects while
they are a patient at the facility. When clothing and effects are accepted in the baggage room, an original and two
copies of DA Form 4160 will be prepared. The patient’s personal property, other than money or valuables, will be
inventoried and listed on all copies of DA Form 4160, with one copy placed in a clothing bag. The bag will be tagged
for identification using DD Form 599 (Patient’s Effect Storage Tag) and secured. The contents of luggage or other
containers in the patient’s possession will be tagged (DD Form 599) and listed on DA Form 4160. Each piece of
luggage or container not equipped with a secure locking device should be sealed in the patient’s presence. All items
inventoried will be listed in the first numbered column of DA Form 4160. All entries on the form will be made in ink.
The column will be dated and then initialed by the patient and the clerk. DD Form 599 may be obtained through
normal distribution channels. One copy will be given to the patient as his or her receipt and the original copy retained
in FN 40-400aa (AR 25-400-2).
a. Patients unable to sign. An officer or administrative officer of the day will witness the inventory and sign DA
Form 4160 for the patient when the patient cannot/is not a witness to the inventory.
b. Withdrawals. When a patient withdraws any of his or her clothing or property, the inventory column of DA Form
4160 (both copies) will be redlined and any remaining balance entered in the next numbered column. When a patient
withdraws all of his or her clothing and property, he will surrender his or her copy of DA Form 4160. If a patient
leaves on a temporary basis and withdraws all of his or her clothing and effects, the form may be held until his or her
return and then, beginning with the next open numbered column, be reused.
c. Discharge. Upon discharge, the patient and the clerk will sign the spaces on the reverse of the original copy of
DA Form 4160 which is then dated and filed. (The patient’s copy will be destroyed.) If a patient dies, absents him or
herself without leave, deserts, or otherwise unaccountably departs from the hospital, his or her effects will be provided
to the Summary Court Martial Officer as prescribed by AR 638-2.
d. Transfer. When transferred to another MTF, personal effects may accompany the patient or may be forwarded
(AR 700-84 and AR 735-5). Excess clothing and baggage of patients transferred to a community nursing home will be
shipped by the patient’s unit commander to the patient’s home or other location designated by the patient prior to
transfer. Clothing and baggage of mentally incompetent patients, which cannot be released to a person eligible to
receive effects, will be transferred to the VA and managed according to VA instructions.
e. Loss of DA Form 4160. If a patient loses his or her copy of DA Form 4160, a duplicate will be prepared,
prominently marked “COPY,” and given to the patient. A notation will be made on the clothing room original of the
date the duplicate was issued.
f. Loss of personal effects. If personal clothing, personal effects (other than PTF items), or Government-issued
AR 40–400 27 January 2010
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