Current through Bulletin 2024-06, March 15, 2024
(1)
(a) A local health officer who is a physician
shall:
(i) be a graduate of a regularly
chartered and legally constituted school of medicine or osteopathy;
(ii) be licensed to practice medicine in the
state of Utah; and
(iii) be board
certified in preventive medicine or in a primary care specialty.
(b) A local health officer who is
not a physician shall:
(i) have successfully
completed a master's degree in public health, nursing or other health
discipline related to public health, public administration, or business
administration from an accredited school; and
(ii) have at least five years of professional
full-time experience in the practice of public health, of which at least three
years were in a senior administrative capacity.
(c) If the local health officer is not a
physician, the local health department shall contract with or employ a
physician that is:
(i) residing in Utah and
licensed to practice medicine in the state;
(ii) competent and experienced in a primary
care specialty medical care field;
(iii) board certified in preventive medicine
or in a primary care specialty;
(iv) able to supervise and oversee clinical
services delivered within the local health department, including the approval
of all clinical protocols, standing orders, and prescriptions issued within the
public health system as described in Section
58-17b-620;
and
(v) able to review policies and
procedures addressing human disease outbreaks of public health importance
including emergency procedures authorized under
58-1-307(6),
(7), and (8).
(d) The Executive Director may grant an
exception to the requirements for a local health officer who was in the
position before February 1, 2016.
(2) The local health officer shall promote
and protect the health and wellness of the people within the district to
include the following activities;
(a)
function as the executive and administrative officer;
(b) report to and receive policy direction
from the local board of health;
(c)
coordinate public health services in the district;
(d) direct programs assigned by statute to
the local health department, including administering and enforcing state and
local health laws, regulations and standards;
(e) direct the investigation and control of
diseases and conditions affecting public health;
(f) be responsible for hiring, terminating,
supervising, and evaluating all local health department employees;
(g) oversee proposed budget
preparation;
(h) present the budget
to the board of health for review and approval;
(i) develop and propose policies for board
consideration;
(j) implement
policies of the local board of health;
(k) advise the department with regard to
policy development as those policies impact the mission, purpose, and capacity
of the local health department;
(l)
ensure that available data on health status and health problems of the district
are reviewed regularly including
(i) a report
to the board of health at least annually, and
(ii) an assessment that includes community
input at least every five years;
(m) ensure that information about health and
health hazards is disseminated as appropriate to protect the health of people
in the district; and
(n) perform
other duties as assigned by the local board of health.
(3) The local health officer shall ensure
that an ongoing planning process is initiated and maintained that includes
mission statement; community needs assessments; problem statements; goals,
outcomes, and process objectives or implementation activities; evaluation;
public involvement; and use of available data sources.
(4) The local health officer shall ensure
that fiscal management procedures are developed, implemented and maintained in
accordance with federal, state, and local government requirements.
(5) Consistent with federal and state laws
and local ordinances and policies, the local health officer shall ensure:
(a) that employees are recruited, hired,
terminated, classified, trained, and compensated in accordance with relevant
merit principles, federal civil rights requirements, and laws of general
applicability, and that their qualifications are commensurate with job
responsibilities;
(b) the
orientation of all new employees to the local health department and its
personnel policies;
(c) the
maintenance of a personnel system that includes an accurate, current, and
complete personnel record for each local health department employee;
(d) the verification of all current licensure
and certification requirements;
(e)
continued education and training for all employees commensurate with job
responsibilities;
(f) that each
employee receives an annual performance evaluation, based upon a job
description and written performance expectations for each employee.
(6) A local health officer or
designee who is a physician or osteopath licensed to practice medicine in Utah
shall supervise and be accountable for medical practice conducted by local
health department employees. If the local health officer is not a physician or
osteopath licensed in Utah, he shall appoint a medical director licensed to
practice medicine or osteopathy in Utah to supervise and be accountable for
medical practice conducted by local health department employees.
