Being "released" to another dept

Hello all,
I've recently accepted a job within the same facility I'm working. I'm going from an outpatient area to an inpatient unit. Anyway, per HR, I have to wait for my current manager to "release" me to my new manager and I cannot start on the inpatient unit until this happens. However, its been 2 (almost 3) weeks and I haven't gotten a release date yet. According to our facility protocols, my current manager can "hold" me up to 180 days. Is this common? This seems to be an excessive amount of time... Also, is it common that they don't give you a release date? My new manager seems to think I'll be released in time for the next schedule (approximately 6 weeks or so). What do you all think of this?