DMH addresses overtime payments to doctors  The Department of
Mental Health (DMH) is changing its policies on overtime, which
were criticized in a state audit and have allowed some DMH
physicians to make more than double their base salaries.  While
the new policy should cut down on overtime payments, it still
won’t limit the hours that DMH doctors can work.  As of July 1,
doctors at state institutions no longer are authorized to work
overtime. Instead, they are given “second assignments” to work
on-call at the hospitals over nights and weekends.  They are
paid between $72 an hour at Fulton State Hospital to $80 an hour
at Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center. At Northwest
Missouri Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center, doctors are paid
$400 for being the on-call doctors overnight at the facility or
$800 for the weekend.  DMH spokesman Bob Bax said the second
assignments are more cost effective than if the department hired
other doctors to work those shifts. This way, the department
gives doctors a similar rate