Bill Text: MS HB1193 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mental Health, Department of; shall have a full-time medical director.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2010-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB1193 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2010-HB1193-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Human Services
By: Representative Currie
House Bill 1193
AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 41-4-6, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH SHALL HAVE A FULL TIME MEDICAL DIRECTOR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 41-4-6, Mississippi Code of 1972:
41-4-6. The department shall have a full time medical director, who shall be a physician who has completed a residency in psychiatry and holds current certification in psychiatry from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. The appointment of a medical director shall be on the recommendation of the executive director of the department and shall be approved by a majority vote of the board. With the approval of the board, an executive director who is a psychiatrist may serve simultaneously as the medical director. The medical director shall have any authority and responsibility as is prescribed by law and shall report to the executive director.
The medical director shall ensure quality medical and psychiatric treatment, delivered through the department and the community mental health centers, to all clients under the care of the mental health system, by the identification of evidence-based treatments and evidence-based community services, the establishment of practice guidelines that assure the most effective use of available resources, and the development of programs to address general medical conditions associated with mental illness. The medical director shall provide training on the implementation of these evidence-based practices and guidelines for clinicians within the department and in the community mental health centers. To carry out these duties, the medical director shall be a key participant in the formulation of policy and in the ongoing clinical review of programs and services in the mental health system.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.
