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By motivating health professional licensees to enter treatment and to recover from their impairment, the HPRP will serve to minimize the losses and other negative impacts which have occurred in the past when diseases of addiction and mental health were addressed only as if they were criminal acts. The people of the State of Michigan will benefit from the continued and safe care of these professionals, without the unnecessary interruptions of practice which often were required by the disciplinary process. Furthermore, the licensing boards will be more able to address those cases of health professionals who truly need to be disciplined.
It is the philosophy of the HPRP that chemical dependency and mental illness are treatable conditions. By providing health professionals an opportunity to enter into treatment and to recover from their diseases early in the disease process, the HPRP can serve to minimize negative impacts on licensees/registrants, patients and their families and friends.
The HPRP is a confidential program. Once licensees/registrants or applicants are accepted into HPRP, their participation and records are not subject to subpoena or the Freedom of Information Act. Through this caring and compassionate approach to the treatable conditions which may cause impairment, the HPRP is able to bring opportunity for recovery without the threat of punishment.
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