1997 Minnesota Statutes

     253B.22 Review boards. 

    Subdivision 1.    Establishment.  The commissioner shall 
 establish a review board of three or more persons for each 
 regional center to review the admission and retention of its 
 patients receiving services under this chapter.  One member 
 shall be qualified in the diagnosis of mental illness, mental 
 retardation, or chemical dependency, and one member shall be an 
 attorney.  The commissioner may, upon written request from the 
 appropriate federal authority, establish a review panel for any 
 federal treatment facility within the state to review the 
 admission and retention of patients hospitalized under this 
 chapter.  For any review board established for a federal 
 treatment facility, one of the persons appointed by the 
 commissioner shall be the commissioner of veterans affairs or 
 the commissioner's designee.  

    Subd. 2.    Right to appear.  Each treatment facility 
 shall be visited by the review board at least once every six 
 months. Upon request each patient in the treatment facility 
 shall have the right to appear before the review board during 
 the visit.  

    Subd. 3.    Notice.  The head of the treatment facility 
 shall notify each patient at the time of admission by a simple 
 written statement of the patient's right to appear before the 
 review board and the next date when the board will visit the 
 treatment facility.  A request to appear before the board need 
 not be in writing.  Any employee of the treatment facility 
 receiving a patient's request to appear before the board shall 
 notify the head of the treatment facility of the request.  

    Subd. 4.    Review.  The board shall review the 
 admission and retention of patients at its respective treatment 
 facility. The board may examine the records of all patients 
 admitted and may examine personally at its own instigation all 
 patients who from the records or otherwise appear to justify 
 reasonable doubt as to continued need of confinement in a 
 treatment facility.  The review board shall report its findings 
 to the commissioner and to the head of the treatment facility.  
 The board may also receive reports from patients, interested 
 persons, and treatment facility employees, and investigate 
 conditions affecting the care of patients.  

    Subd. 5.    Compensation.  Each member of the review 
 board shall receive compensation and reimbursement as 
 established by the commissioner.  

    HIST: 1982 c 581 s 22; 1983 c 251 s 25; 1986 c 444; 1997 c 217 
 art 1 s 111