(a) Any person who is a patient in a facility pursuant to this chapter shall have a right to receive the care and treatment that is necessary for and appropriate to the condition for which he or she was admitted or certified and from which he or she can reasonably be expected to benefit. Each patient shall have an individualized treatment plan. This plan shall be developed by appropriate mental health professionals, including a psychiatrist, and implemented as soon as possible — in any event no later than five (5) days after a patient's voluntary admission or involuntary court certification. Each individual treatment plan shall be made in accordance with the professional regulations of each facility, and by way of illustration and, not limited to the following, shall contain:
(1) A statement of the nature of the specific problems and specific needs of the patient;
(2) A statement of the least restrictive treatment conditions necessary to achieve the purposes of certification or admission;
(3) A description of intermediate and long-range treatment goals; and
(4) A statement and rationale for the plan of treatment for achieving these intermediate and long-range goals.
(b) The individualized treatment plan shall become part of the patient's record in accordance with § 40.1-5-5(g), and the subject of periodic review in accordance with § 40.1-5-10. In implementing a treatment plan on behalf of any patient, the official in charge of any facility, or his or her designee(s), may, when it is warranted, authorize the release of the patient for such periods of time and under such terms and conditions that he or she deems appropriate.
History of Section.
P.L. 1974, ch. 119, § 1.