It shall be the policy of the State and is the intent of this section to provide the citizens of Oklahoma with a diagnostic and remedial psychiatry and neurology service, to provide the School of Medicine of the University of Oklahoma with a means of furnishing professional education and research in psychiatry and neurology, to provide for the administration and use of the facilities, located in the University Hospital, for this purpose.

(a) The following terms when used in this section shall mean as herein defined:

(1) "University Hospital" shall mean the Oklahoma Memorial Hospital of the Oklahoma Medical Center.

(2) "Psychiatry and Neurology Service" shall mean the diagnostic and therapeutic service for mental patients established in the psychiatric and neurological facilities of the University Hospital.

(3) "Psychiatric and neurological facilities" shall mean the psychiatry and neurology unit of the University Hospital and such ancillary facilities as may be necessary for its operation.

(4) "Chief" shall mean the Chief of the Psychiatry and Neurology Service.

(5) "School of Medicine" shall mean the School of Medicine of the University of Oklahoma Medical Center.

(6) "Board" shall mean the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma.

(b) The psychiatry and neurology unit (commonly called the neuro-psychiatric unit) of the University Hospital shall be such clinics and laboratories of the University Hospital as may be required, together with the psychiatric and neurological facilities of the School of Medicine and the University Hospital.

The Board shall establish a Psychiatry and Neurology Service in the psychiatric and neurological facilities, to be used as a training and research unit for the teaching of psychiatry and neurology. The Service shall be established and operated under such conditions and terms as may be instituted by the School of Medicine and University Hospital with the approval of the Board and subject to the provisions of this section.

(c) The Board shall appoint a full time Chief of Psychiatry and Neurology Service.

(1) He shall be licensed to practice medicine in this state and shall be qualified to supervise residency training and shall meet the standards established by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology or its successor.

(2) He shall be appointed as a member of the faculty of the School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology.

(3) He shall be in charge of the Psychiatry and Neurology Service, subject to the general policies and direction of the University Hospital administration.

(d) The admission of patients to the University Hospital Psychiatry and Neurology Service and the trial release of patients shall be based on the following criteria.

(1) Admission shall be on the basis of the teaching needs, and requirements of the School of Medicine, in accordance with regulations approved by the Board.

(2) Admission shall be in conformity with the mental health laws providing for the admission of mental patients to mental hospitals.

(3) "Trial release" from inpatient to outpatient status is authorized in conformity with the state mental health laws in recognition of special therapeutic requirements of certain mental patients as determined by the Chief. Such trial release will be in the custody of the responsible relative or guardian.

(4) In case such custody is not assumed by the responsible relative or guardian within one week after written notice from the Chief, the patient may be committed or transferred by the Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to the appropriate state mental hospital.

(e) Authority is hereby provided for the transfer of any patient of the psychiatric and neurological facilities and services of the University Hospital to a component facility of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and for the transfer of any patient of a component facility of that Department to the University Hospital psychiatric and neurological facilities and services under such procedures as the Department and the School of Medicine may adopt, subject to the provisions of this section and the mental health laws of this state.

(1) The transfer of such patients shall be for the following purposes:

a. to provide necessary patients for the teaching of diagnosis and therapy of mental illness, according to the needs of the School of Medicine,

b. to make special diagnostic and/or therapeutic measures available to the patients, and

c. to maintain the Psychiatry and Neurology Service of the University Hospital as a short term diagnostic and therapeutic facility.

(2) The procedure for transfer of patients provided for in Paragraph (d), subparagraph (4) and this paragraph shall be determined by a board of three (3) members, one each to be appointed by the Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the Superintendent of the University Hospital, and the State Commissioner of Health.

(f) The discharge of certified patients from the Psychiatry and Neurology Service shall be determined by the consensus of a board of three members from the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, including the Chief. The Chief shall notify the court, which certified the patient originally, that the Board has concluded that the patient so certified is mentally well and is being discharged.

Amended by Laws 1988, c. 326, § 36, emerg. eff. July 13, 1988; Laws 1990, c. 51, § 140, emerg. eff. April 9, 1990.