“To protect healthcare consumers through seeking the early identification and rehabilitation of physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals with potentially impairing health concerns including abuse of mood altering drugs including alcohol, mental illness or physical illness affecting competency so that physicians, surgeons and other healthcare professionals so afflicted may be treated, monitored and returned to the safe practice of their profession to the benefit of the healthcare profession and the patients we serve.”
OUR VISION:
The vision of the West Virginia Medical Professionals Health Program is improving the health of West Virginians through promoting the well-being of West Virginia physicians, podiatrists, physician assistants and other licensed healthcare professionals.
PRINCIPLES
- Addictive Disorders (i.e. Chemical Dependency/Alcohol Dependency) and Mental Illness are primary diseases and as such the addicted/mentally ill patient needs treated with the same standards of care provided patients who suffer from other chronic medical illnesses.
- The program is committed to the health of the addicted/mentally ill healthcare professional, their families, their healthcare community, and the public at large.
- Addictive and/or mental illness (qualifying illness) exist on a continuum with illness predating impairment, often by a period of years.
- The program is committed to the earlier detection of potentially impairing qualifying illness prior to progression to overt impairment.
- The addicted/mentally ill healthcare professionals who pose a danger to patients must be reported to their Board of Licensure of the State of West Virginia.
- Program participants who enter the WVMPHP as self referrals without a complaint filed against them and remain compliant with all program requirements should remain unknown to the enforcement program of their licensure board.
- Drug or alcohol dependency and physical/mental disorders among healthcare professionals should be addressed by the medical community and regulatory agencies proactively rather than reactively.
- Healthcare professionals with potentially impairing conditions are obliged to accept help and cooperate with evaluation, treatment, and monitoring in order to regain or retain their full effectiveness to practice their profession.
- The addicted/mentally ill healthcare professional should not be disciplined merely on the basis of diagnosis and that to do so would impede their own recovery and limit WVMPHP’s effectiveness.
- Potentially impairing illness may be suspected based on the observation and evaluation of peers knowledgeable about these issues and/or by the acknowledgement or admission of the professional and should be confirmed by an industry recognized and professionally reliable evaluation process.
- It is the responsibility of all healthcare professionals to be aware of any colleague’s chemical dependency and/or mental illness and to assist these colleagues in receiving appropriate referral for evaluation, treatment, and monitoring.
- The program does not discriminate nor deny services based on specialty, medical professional degree, membership affiliations, age, race, religion, sex, national origin, or financial well-being.
- The WVMPHP’s staff is passionate, energetic, available, dedicated, and knowledgeable through experience and/or training in carrying out the mission of the program.
- The WVMPHP is committed to expanding the knowledge to the healthcare community as a whole with regard to the principles of the program and other issues of physician well-being through the promotion of educational opportunities to be made available to health professionals around the state.
- The program is committed to having open, active lines of communication between all parties involved in carrying out its mission and to earning the respect and trust of medicine and the regulatory bodies through honest, direct, and professional interactions aimed toward our common interests.
- The operation of the program and treatment of addicted/mentally ill healthcare professionals is more cost effective than the training of new healthcare professionals.
- WVMPHP is a positive example of organized medicine and the regulatory entities working with the principles of collaboration, communication, accountability and transparency; cooperatively toward their shared vision of ensuring the health of its members and the safety and welfare of the patients we serve.
- WVMPHP is committed to operate its business in a fiduciary manner consistent with established standards for a 501 (c) 3.