2015 Utah Code
Title 26 - Utah Health Code
Chapter 1 - Department of Health Organization
Section 30 - Powers and duties of department.

Effective 5/12/2015
26-1-30. Powers and duties of department.
The department shall exercise the following powers and duties, in addition to other powers and duties established in this chapter:

• (1) enter into cooperative agreements with the Department of Environmental Quality to delineate specific responsibilities to assure that assessment and management of risk to human health from the environment are properly administered;

• (2) consult with the Department of Environmental Quality and enter into cooperative agreements, as needed, to ensure efficient use of resources and effective response to potential health and safety threats from the environment, and to prevent gaps in protection from potential risks from the environment to specific individuals or population groups;

• (3) promote and protect the health and wellness of the people within the state;

• (4) establish, maintain, and enforce rules necessary or desirable to carry out the provisions and purposes of this title to promote and protect the public health or to prevent disease and illness;

• (5) investigate and control the causes of epidemic, infectious, communicable, and other diseases affecting the public health;

• (6) provide for the detection, reporting, prevention, and control of communicable, infectious, acute, chronic, or any other disease or health hazard which the department considers to be dangerous, important, or likely to affect the public health;

• (7) collect and report information on causes of injury, sickness, death, and disability and the risk factors that contribute to the causes of injury, sickness, death, and disability within the state;

• (8) collect, prepare, publish, and disseminate information to inform the public concerning the health and wellness of the population, specific hazards, and risks that may affect the health and wellness of the population and specific activities which may promote and protect the health and wellness of the population;

• (9) establish and operate programs necessary or desirable for the promotion or protection of the public health and the control of disease or which may be necessary to ameliorate the major causes of injury, sickness, death, and disability in the state, except that the programs may not be established if adequate programs exist in the private sector;

• (10) establish, maintain, and enforce isolation and quarantine, and for this purpose only, exercise physical control over property and individuals as the department finds necessary for the protection of the public health;

• (11) close theaters, schools, and other public places and forbid gatherings of people when necessary to protect the public health;

• (12) abate nuisances when necessary to eliminate sources of filth and infectious and communicable diseases affecting the public health;

• (13) make necessary sanitary and health investigations and inspections in cooperation with local health departments as to any matters affecting the public health;

• (14) establish laboratory services necessary to support public health programs and medical services in the state;

• (15) establish and enforce standards for laboratory services which are provided by any laboratory in the state when the purpose of the services is to protect the public health;

• (16) cooperate with the Labor Commission to conduct studies of occupational health hazards and occupational diseases arising in and out of employment in industry, and make recommendations for elimination or reduction of the hazards;

• (17) cooperate with the local health departments, the Department of Corrections, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Division of Juvenile Justice Services, and the Crime Victim Reparations Board to conduct testing for HIV infection of alleged sexual offenders, convicted sexual offenders, and any victims of a sexual offense;

• (18) investigate the causes of maternal and infant mortality;

• (19) establish, maintain, and enforce a procedure requiring the blood of adult pedestrians and drivers of motor vehicles killed in highway accidents be examined for the presence and concentration of alcohol;

• (20) provide the Commissioner of Public Safety with monthly statistics reflecting the results of the examinations provided for in Subsection (19) and provide safeguards so that information derived from the examinations is not used for a purpose other than the compilation of statistics authorized in this Subsection (20);

• (21) establish qualifications for individuals permitted to draw blood pursuant to Subsection 41-6a-523(1)(a)(vi), 53-10-405(2)(a)(vi), or 72-10-502(5)(a)(vi), and to issue permits to individuals it finds qualified, which permits may be terminated or revoked by the department;

• (22) establish a uniform public health program throughout the state which includes continuous service, employment of qualified employees, and a basic program of disease control, vital and health statistics, sanitation, public health nursing, and other preventive health programs necessary or desirable for the protection of public health;

• (23) adopt rules and enforce minimum sanitary standards for the operation and maintenance of:
  • (a) orphanages;
  • (b) boarding homes;
  • (c) summer camps for children;
  • (d) lodging houses;
  • (e) hotels;
  • (f) restaurants and all other places where food is handled for commercial purposes, sold, or served to the public;
  • (g) tourist and trailer camps;
  • (h) service stations;
  • (i) public conveyances and stations;
  • (j) public and private schools;
  • (k) factories;
  • (l) private sanatoria;
  • (m) barber shops;
  • (n) beauty shops;
  • (o) physician offices;
  • (p) dentist offices;
  • (q) workshops;
  • (r) industrial, labor, or construction camps;
  • (s) recreational resorts and camps;
  • (t) swimming pools, public baths, and bathing beaches;
  • (u) state, county, or municipal institutions, including hospitals and other buildings, centers, and places used for public gatherings; and
  • (v) any other facilities in public buildings or on public grounds;

• (24) conduct health planning for the state;

• (25) monitor the costs of health care in the state and foster price competition in the health care delivery system;

• (26) adopt rules for the licensure of health facilities within the state pursuant to Title 26, Chapter 21, Health Care Facility Licensing and Inspection Act;

• (27) license the provision of child care;

• (28) accept contributions to and administer the funds contained in the Organ Donation Contribution Fund created in Section 26-18b-101;

• (29) serve as the collecting agent, on behalf of the state, for the nursing care facility assessment fee imposed under Title 26, Chapter 35a, Nursing Care Facility Assessment Act, and adopt rules for the enforcement and administration of the nursing facility assessment consistent with the provisions of Title 26, Chapter 35a, Nursing Care Facility Assessment Act;

• (30) establish methods or measures for health care providers, public health entities, and health care insurers to coordinate among themselves to verify the identity of the individuals they serve; and

• (31)
  • (a) designate Alzheimer's disease and related dementia as a public health issue and, within budgetary limitations, implement a state plan for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia by incorporating the plan into the department's strategic planning and budgetary process; and
  • (b) coordinate with other state agencies and other organizations to implement the state plan for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia.

Amended by Chapter 73, 2015 General Session