A. The Department of Public Safety shall establish and maintain a Mental Wellness Division to provide mental wellness services and programs to public safety personnel and retirees thereof to promote good mental wellness. The Commissioner of Public Safety shall appoint the Director of the Mental Wellness Division. B. The Director of the Mental Wellness Division shall report to the Commissioner. All current and former employees of the Mental Wellness Division shall maintain the privacy of all public safety personnel served by the Division or who participate in its programs. No privileged personal health information shall ever be shared with the Commissioner or made public without the consent of that person. However, aggregate mental health information may be shared with the Commissioner. Aggregate mental health information may be made public by the Commissioner if, in the judgment of the Commissioner, doing so could improve public safety mental wellness policies for public safety personnel and the information is made public for this sole purpose. Provided, no aggregate mental health information may be shared or made public if doing so could reveal otherwise privileged personal mental health information about any specific individual. It shall be the duty of the Director of the Division to establish the necessary policies and procedures to ensure the privacy and confidentiality requirements of this section and of all other applicable health privacy laws. Any breach of the privacy provisions of this section and of any other applicable health privacy laws must be timely and thoroughly investigated and the appropriate disciplinary and corrective actions taken. C. The Mental Wellness Division is authorized to enter into partnerships with private entities to fulfill its mandate. D. The offices, records, communications, information technology, equipment, and any other resources of the Mental Wellness Division shall be located and maintained separately from that of the other divisions within the Department.
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