Every person residing at Bellefontaine Habilitation Center is afforded quality health care. All disciplines contribute to the overall health status of the individual. This is accomplished through the interdisciplinary team (IDT) and the processes that the team must follow. Strict adherence to respective professional ethics is important to this process.

Each individual residing at BHC is assigned a staff physician who is a member of the individual's IDT and is responsible to evaluate, organize, and supervise all activities related to health care. Health needs and objectives are considered an integral portion in the development, implementation, and monitoring of the Person Centered Plan (PCP) with the assigned physician serving as an interdisciplinary team member for this purpose.

Individuals also receive related health services from other BHC staff. Full time registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and private community vendors play a key role in providing excellent health care to BHC individuals. Dental health services are provided by private community vendors who are determined according to individual needs. Each staff physician may also utilize the services of a specialist in the community as a medical consult. Other services such as laboratory, EEG, EKG and X-ray are obtained through private community vendors with the results of each being used by the staff physician to insure quality health care for each individual served. Pharmacy services are also obtained from a private vendor who follows the regulations contained in the Pharmacy Policy and Procedures Manual in relation to distribution, control, and use of medication.

Emergency medical care is obtained from community hospitals. BHC utilizes the 911 emergency service in any life-threatening situation and has an agreement with Christian Northeast Hospital to provide necessary emergency medical treatment. From follow-up purposes, the BHC Lead Physician is required to maintain communications with physician(s) at Christian Northeast Hospital. Health care needs of individuals residing at BHC are under the supervision of an assigned staff physician on a 24-hour basis.

Any medication provided to an individual must be by physician prescription. Medications are prescribed as an integral part of the individual's person centered plan. When this occurs, the physician is responsible to confer with the interdisciplinary team prior to writing the prescription and to insure that all team members are in accord with procedures to follow. The Unit Physician and the Unit Nurse monitor use of medications and provide input to the other team members as to effectiveness as well as other conditions that may arise.

The Division of Health Services is under the Direction of the Lead Physician who is responsible to the Superintendent. The Chief Medical Officer is a member of the Facility Executive Committee and the advisor to this Committee on all matters pertaining to health care and medical practices.

The BHC Executive Committee has established the following objectives for the Division of Health Services:

1. To insure ethical health care practices and the protection of the legal and human rights of all individuals served relating to said practices.
2. To insure that all health care practices are compliant with respective law, regulations, and standards applicable to the Facility.
3. To insure that each individual served by the Facility receives timely and appropriate medical attention as determined by immediate or anticipated need.
4. To advocate for quality assurance in all Facility health care practices including preventive services and related activities and to insure that all medical staff provides transdisciplinary services to each interdisciplinary team.
5. To maintain all current appropriate health care practices routinely utilized by the Facility, in writing, in the form of policies and procedures. These policies and procedures shall be the product of the Health Care Practices Committee.
6. To insure proper Facility infection control procedures, which are maintained in the form of an Infection Control Manual, maintained in all Units and Departments of BHC.

The Missouri Department of Mental Health