P.R. Laws tit. 24, § 6165
The Administrator, as authorized by Act No. 67-1993, as amended, known as the ‘Mental Health and Addiction Services Administration Act’ (ASSMCA, Spanish acronym), shall promulgate regulations as are necessary to license, supervise, and keep a public registry of all the institutions and facilities, whether public or private, engaged in the rendering of prevention and treatment services for mental disorders, alcoholism, and drug addiction; to develop and implement prevention and treatment programs; to establish the quality controls of said programs in order to achieve the purposes of this Act; provided, that every healthcare professional working in public or private institutions, and who plans, manages, or coordinates services for mental health patients, as well as the network of direct or indirect mental healthcare service providers including, but not limited to, the provisions of Section 1.05 of this Act, shall complete continuing education courses on the provisions of Act No. 408-2000, as amended, and the Regulations thereunder. The Administrator shall prescribe by regulations the frequency and minimum requirements of the course, taking into account the extent to which a healthcare professional is exposed to patients, as well as the degree of discretion that the healthcare professional must exercise when making decisions that directly affect the population he serves.
The Administration shall have full authority to issue licenses, as established in this Section, which licenses shall be issued through its Licensing Division for the sole purpose of mental health services and facilities. Said license shall be known as the ‘Mental Health Services License.’ The Administrator shall establish through regulations the fees that institutions shall pay when requesting or renewing the license, according to the categories of profit and non-profit institutions. The regulations adopted to such effect shall provide, among other requirements for license issue and renewal, that the applicant shall describe the mechanisms to implement and comply with this Act, including the certification attesting that every healthcare professional in contact with the population served has completed the required continuing education courses, as well as the indicators used to ensure that said implementation is effective and continuous.
History —Oct. 2, 2000, No. 408, § 14.01, eff. 60 days after Oct. 2, 2000; Aug. 16, 2012, No. 172, § 1.