Chapter 3701: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

As used in sections 3701.01, 3701.04, 3701.08, 3701.09, and 3701.37 to 3701.45 of the Revised Code:

(A) “The federal act” means Title VI of the “Public Health Service Act,” 60 Stat. 1041 (1946), 42 U.S.C. 291, as amended.

(B) “The surgeon general” means the surgeon general of the public health service of the United States or such other officer or employee of the United States responsible for administration of the federal act.

(C) “Hospital” includes public health centers and general, mental, chronic disease, and other types of hospitals, and related facilities, such as laboratories, outpatient departments, nurses’ home facilities, extended care facilities, self-care units, and central service facilities operated in connection with hospitals, and also includes education and training facilities for health professions personnel operated as an integral part of a hospital, but does not include any hospital furnishing primarily domiciliary care.

(D) “Public health center” means a publicly owned facility for the housing of the public health services of a community and one which makes available equipment to aid physicians in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.

(E) “Nonprofit hospital,” or “nonprofit” as applied to a facility, means any hospital or facility owned and operated by one or more nonprofit corporations or associations no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

(F) “Medical facilities” means outpatient facilities, rehabilitation facilities, and facilities for long-term care, including nursing homes, as those terms are defined in the federal act, and such other facilities for which federal aid may be authorized under the federal act.

Effective Date: 10-10-2000

There is hereby created a department of health. The department shall consist of a director of health and a public health council.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

(A) The public health council shall adopt, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, such rules as are necessary to carry out sections 3701.021 to 3701.0210 of the Revised Code, including, but not limited to, rules to establish the following:

(1) Medical and financial eligibility requirements for the program for medically handicapped children;

(2) Eligibility requirements for providers of services for medically handicapped children;

(3) Procedures to be followed by the department of health in disqualifying providers for violating requirements adopted under division (A)(2) of this section;

(4) Procedures to be used by the department regarding application for diagnostic services under division (B) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code and payment for those services under division (E) of that section;

(5) Standards for the provision of service coordination by the department of health and city and general health districts;

(6) Procedures for the department to use to determine the amount to be paid annually by each county for services for medically handicapped children and to allow counties to retain funds under divisions (A)(2) and (3) of section 3701.024 of the Revised Code;

(7) Financial eligibility requirements for services for Ohio residents twenty-one years of age or older who have cystic fibrosis;

(8) Criteria for payment of approved providers who provide services for medically handicapped children;

(9) Criteria for the department to use in determining whether the payment of health insurance premiums of participants in the program for medically handicapped children is cost-effective;

(10) Procedures for appeal of denials of applications under divisions (A) and (D) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code, disqualification of providers, and amounts paid for services;

(11) Terms of appointment for members of the medically handicapped children’s medical advisory council created in section 3701.025 of the Revised Code;

(12) Eligibility requirements for the hemophilia program, including income and hardship requirements;

(13) If a manufacturer discount program is established under division (J)(1) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code, procedures for administering the program, including criteria and other requirements for participation in the program by manufacturers of drugs and nutritional formulas.

(B) The department of health shall develop a manual of operational procedures and guidelines for the program for medically handicapped children to implement sections 3701.021 to 3701.0210 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 129th General Assembly File No. 28, HB 153, § 101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

For each year that federal funds are made available to states under Title V of the “Social Security Act,” 124 Stat. 352 (2010), 42 U.S.C. 710, as amended, for use in providing abstinence education, the director of health shall submit to the United States secretary of health and human services an application for the allotment of those funds that is available to this state. The director shall use the funds received in accordance with any conditions under which the application was approved.

Added by 129th General Assembly File No. 28, HB 153, § 101.01, eff. 6/30/2011.

As used in sections 3701.021 to 3701.0210 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Medically handicapped child” means an Ohio resident under twenty-one years of age who suffers primarily from an organic disease, defect, or a congenital or acquired physically handicapping and associated condition that may hinder the achievement of normal growth and development.

(B) “Provider” means a health professional, hospital, medical equipment supplier, and any individual, group, or agency that is approved by the department of health pursuant to division (C) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code and that provides or intends to provide goods or services to a child who is eligible for the program for medically handicapped children.

(C) “Service coordination” means case management services provided to medically handicapped children that promote effective and efficient organization and utilization of public and private resources and ensure that care rendered is family-centered, community-based, and coordinated.

(D)(1) “Third party” means any person or government entity other than the following:

(a) A medically handicapped child participating in the program for medically handicapped children or the child’s parent or guardian;

(b) The department or any program administered by the department, including the “Maternal and Child Health Block Grant,” Title V of the “Social Security Act,” 95 Stat. 818 (1981), 42 U.S.C.A. 701, as amended;

(c) The “caring program for children” operated by the nonprofit community mutual insurance corporation.

(2) “Third party” includes all of the following:

(a) Any trust established to benefit a medically handicapped child participating in the program or the child’s family or guardians, if the trust was established after the date the medically handicapped child applied to participate in the program;

(b) That portion of a trust designated to pay for the medical and ancillary care of a medically handicapped child, if the trust was established on or before the date the medically handicapped child applied to participate in the program;

(c) The program awarding reparations to victims of crime established under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code.

(E) “Third-party benefits” means any and all benefits paid by a third party to or on behalf of a medically handicapped child participating in the program or the child’s parent or guardian for goods or services that are authorized by the department pursuant to division (B) or (D) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code.

(F) “Hemophilia program” means the hemophilia program the department of health is required to establish and administer under section 3701.029 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003

(A) The department of health shall review applications for eligibility for the program for medically handicapped children that are submitted to the department by city and general health districts and physician providers approved in accordance with division (C) of this section. The department shall determine whether the applicants meet the medical and financial eligibility requirements established by the public health council pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, and by the department in the manual of operational procedures and guidelines for the program for medically handicapped children developed pursuant to division (B) of that section. Referrals of potentially eligible children for the program may be submitted to the department on behalf of the child by parents, guardians, public health nurses, or any other interested person. The department of health may designate other agencies to refer applicants to the department of health.

(B) In accordance with the procedures established in rules adopted under division (A)(4) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, the department of health shall authorize a provider or providers to provide to any Ohio resident under twenty-one years of age, without charge to the resident or the resident’s family and without restriction as to the economic status of the resident or the resident’s family, diagnostic services necessary to determine whether the resident has a medically handicapping or potentially medically handicapping condition.

(C) The department of health shall review the applications of health professionals, hospitals, medical equipment suppliers, and other individuals, groups, or agencies that apply to become providers. The department shall enter into a written agreement with each applicant who is determined, pursuant to the requirements set forth in rules adopted under division (A)(2) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, to be eligible to be a provider in accordance with the provider agreement required by the medical assistance program established under section 5111.01 of the Revised Code. No provider shall charge a medically handicapped child or the child’s parent or guardian for services authorized by the department under division (B) or (D) of this section.

The department, in accordance with rules adopted under division (A)(3) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, may disqualify any provider from further participation in the program for violating any requirement set forth in rules adopted under division (A)(2) of that section. The disqualification shall not take effect until a written notice, specifying the requirement violated and describing the nature of the violation, has been delivered to the provider and the department has afforded the provider an opportunity to appeal the disqualification under division (H) of this section.

(D) The department of health shall evaluate applications from city and general health districts and approved physician providers for authorization to provide treatment services, service coordination, and related goods to children determined to be eligible for the program for medically handicapped children pursuant to division (A) of this section. The department shall authorize necessary treatment services, service coordination, and related goods for each eligible child in accordance with an individual plan of treatment for the child. As an alternative, the department may authorize payment of health insurance premiums on behalf of eligible children when the department determines, in accordance with criteria set forth in rules adopted under division (A)(9) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, that payment of the premiums is cost-effective.

(E) The department of health shall pay, from appropriations to the department, any necessary expenses, including but not limited to, expenses for diagnosis, treatment, service coordination, supportive services, transportation, and accessories and their upkeep, provided to medically handicapped children, provided that the provision of the goods or services is authorized by the department under division (B) or (D) of this section. Money appropriated to the department of health may also be expended for reasonable administrative costs incurred by the program. The department of health also may purchase liability insurance covering the provision of services under the program for medically handicapped children by physicians and other health care professionals.

Payments made to providers by the department of health pursuant to this division for inpatient hospital care, outpatient care, and all other medical assistance furnished to eligible recipients shall be made in accordance with rules adopted by the public health council pursuant to division (A) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code.

The departments of health and job and family services shall jointly implement procedures to ensure that duplicate payments are not made under the program for medically handicapped children and the medical assistance program established under section 5111.01 of the Revised Code and to identify and recover duplicate payments.

(F) At the time of applying for participation in the program for medically handicapped children, a medically handicapped child or the child’s parent or guardian shall disclose the identity of any third party against whom the child or the child’s parent or guardian has or may have a right of recovery for goods and services provided under division (B) or (D) of this section. The department of health shall require a medically handicapped child who receives services from the program or the child’s parent or guardian to apply for all third-party benefits for which the child may be eligible and require the child, parent, or guardian to apply all third-party benefits received to the amount determined under division (E) of this section as the amount payable for goods and services authorized under division (B) or (D) of this section. The department is the payer of last resort and shall pay for authorized goods or services, up to the amount determined under division (E) of this section for the authorized goods or services, only to the extent that payment for the authorized goods or services is not made through third-party benefits. When a third party fails to act on an application or claim for benefits by a medically handicapped child or the child’s parent or guardian, the department shall pay for the goods or services only after ninety days have elapsed since the date the child, parents, or guardians made an application or claim for all third-party benefits. Third-party benefits received shall be applied to the amount determined under division (E) of this section. Third-party payments for goods and services not authorized under division (B) or (D) of this section shall not be applied to payment amounts determined under division (E) of this section. Payment made by the department shall be considered payment in full of the amount determined under division (E) of this section. Medicaid payments for persons eligible for the medical assistance program established under section 5111.01 of the Revised Code shall be considered payment in full of the amount determined under division (E) of this section.

(G) The department of health shall administer a program to provide services to Ohio residents who are twenty-one or more years of age who have cystic fibrosis and who meet the eligibility requirements established by the rules of the public health council pursuant to division (A)(7) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, subject to all provisions of this section, but not subject to section 3701.024 of the Revised Code.

(H) The department of health shall provide for appeals, in accordance with rules adopted under section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, of denials of applications for the program for medically handicapped children under division (A) or (D) of this section, disqualification of providers, or amounts paid under division (E) of this section. Appeals under this division are not subject to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

The department may designate ombudspersons to assist medically handicapped children or their parents or guardians, upon the request of the children, parents, or guardians, in filing appeals under this division and to serve as children’s, parents’, or guardians’ advocates in matters pertaining to the administration of the program for medically handicapped children and eligibility for program services. The ombudspersons shall receive no compensation but shall be reimbursed by the department, in accordance with rules of the office of budget and management, for their actual and necessary travel expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

(I) The department of health, and city and general health districts providing service coordination pursuant to division (A)(2) of section 3701.024 of the Revised Code, shall provide service coordination in accordance with the standards set forth in the rules adopted under section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, without charge, and without restriction as to economic status.

(J)(1) The department of health may establish a manufacturer discount program under which a manufacturer of a drug or nutritional formula is permitted to enter into an agreement with the department to provide a discount on the price of the drug or nutritional formula distributed to medically handicapped children participating in the program for medically handicapped children. The program shall be administered in accordance with rules adopted under section 3701.021 of the Revised Code.

(2) If a manufacturer enters into an agreement with the department as described in division (J)(1) of this section, the manufacturer and the department may negotiate the amount and terms of the discount.

(3) In lieu of establishing a discount program as described in division (J)(1) of this section, the department and a manufacturer of a drug or nutritional formula may discuss a donation of drugs, nutritional formulas, or money by the manufacturer to the department.

Amended by 129th General Assembly File No. 28, HB 153, § 101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Effective Date: 07-01-2000; 09-29-2005

(A)(1) Under a procedure established in rules adopted under section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, the department of health shall determine the amount each county shall provide annually for the program for medically handicapped children, based on a proportion of the county’s total general property tax duplicate, not to exceed one-tenth of a mill , and charge the county for any part of expenses incurred under the program for treatment services on behalf of medically handicapped children having legal settlement in the county that is not paid from federal funds or through the medical assistance program established under section 5111.01 of the Revised Code. The department shall not charge the county for expenses exceeding the difference between the amount determined under division (A)(1) of this section and any amounts retained under divisions (A)(2) and (3) of this section.

All amounts collected by the department under division (A)(1) of this section shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the medically handicapped children-county assessment fund, which is hereby created. The fund shall be used by the department to comply with sections 3701.021 to 3701.028 of the Revised Code.

(2) The department, in accordance with rules adopted under section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, may allow each county to retain up to ten per cent of the amount determined under division (A)(1) of this section to provide funds to city or general health districts of the county with which the districts shall provide service coordination, public health nursing, or transportation services for medically handicapped children.

(3) In addition to any amount retained under division (A)(2) of this section, the department, in accordance with rules adopted under section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, may allow counties that it determines have significant numbers of potentially eligible medically handicapped children to retain an amount equal to the difference between:

(a) Twenty-five per cent of the amount determined under division (A)(1) of this section;

(b) Any amount retained under division (A)(2) of this section.

Counties shall use amounts retained under division (A)(3) of this section to provide funds to city or general health districts of the county with which the districts shall conduct outreach activities to increase participation in the program for medically handicapped children.

(4) Prior to any increase in the millage charged to a county, the public health council shall hold a public hearing on the proposed increase and shall give notice of the hearing to each board of county commissioners that would be affected by the increase at least thirty days prior to the date set for the hearing. Any county commissioner may appear and give testimony at the hearing. Any increase in the millage any county is required to provide for the program for medically handicapped children shall be determined, and notice of the amount of the increase shall be provided to each affected board of county commissioners, no later than the first day of June of the fiscal year next preceding the fiscal year in which the increase will take effect.

(B) Each board of county commissioners shall establish a medically handicapped children’s fund and shall appropriate thereto an amount, determined in accordance with division (A)(1) of this section, for the county’s share in providing medical, surgical, and other aid to medically handicapped children residing in such county and for the purposes specified in divisions (A)(2) and (3) of this section. Each county shall use money retained under divisions (A)(2) and (3) of this section only for the purposes specified in those divisions.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

There is hereby created the medically handicapped children’s medical advisory council consisting of twenty-one members to be appointed by the director of health for terms set in accordance with rules adopted by the public health council under division (A)(11) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code. The medically handicapped children’s medical advisory council shall advise the director regarding the administration of the program for medically handicapped children, the suitable quality of medical practice for providers, and the requirements for medical eligibility for the program.

All members of the council shall be licensed physicians, surgeons, dentists, and other professionals in the field of medicine, representative of the various disciplines involved in the treatment of children with medically handicapping conditions, and representative of the treatment facilities involved, such as hospitals, private and public health clinics, and private physicians’ offices, and shall be eligible for the program.

Members of the council shall receive no compensation, but shall receive their actual and necessary travel expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties in accordance with the rules of the office of budget and management.

Amended by 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, § 1, eff. 6/30/2011.

Effective Date: 12-02-1996

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

(A) The acceptance of assistance under the program for medically handicapped children gives a right of subrogation to the department of health against the liability of a third party for the costs of goods or services paid by the department under division (E) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code. The department’s subrogation claim shall not exceed the total cost of the goods and services paid under division (E) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code.

(B) To enforce its subrogation rights, the department may do any of the following:

(1) Intervene or join in any action or proceeding brought by a medically handicapped child or his parent or guardian against any third party who may be liable for the cost of goods and services paid under division (E) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code;

(2) Institute and pursue legal proceedings against any third party who may be liable for the cost of goods and services paid under division (E) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code;

(3) Initiate legal proceedings in conjunction with a medically handicapped child or his parent or guardian against any third party who may be liable for the cost of goods and services paid under division (E) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code.

(C) When an action or claim is brought against a third party by a medically handicapped child participating in the program or his parent or guardian, the entire amount of any settlement or compromise of the action or claim, or any court award or judgment, is subject to the subrogation right of the department. If all or part of settlement, compromise, award, or judgment is established in the form of a trust to benefit the child or his family or guardians, the department may waive its right of subrogation against all or part of the trust. Any settlement, compromise, award, or judgment that excludes the costs of goods and services paid under division (E) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code shall not preclude the department from enforcing its subrogation right under this section.

(D) No settlement, compromise, judgment, or award or any recovery in any action or claim by a medically handicapped child or his parent or guardian when the department has a right of subrogation shall be made final without first giving the department notice and the opportunity to perfect its right of subrogation. If the department is not given notice, the child, parent, or guardian is liable to reimburse the department for the cost of goods and services paid under division (E) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code out of any recovery received. The third party becomes liable to the department as soon as the third party is notified in writing of the valid claims for subrogation under this section.

(E) Subrogation does not apply to that portion of any judgment, award, settlement, or compromise of a claim, to the extent that attorney’s fees, costs, or other expenses are incurred by a medically handicapped child or his parent or guardian in securing the judgment, award, settlement, or compromise, or to the extent that the cost of goods and services specified in divisions (B) and (D) of section 3701.023 of the Revised Code are paid by the child, parent, or guardian. Attorney’s fees and costs or other expenses in securing any recovery shall not be assessed against any subrogated claim of the department.

Effective Date: 01-14-1993

The department of health shall administer funds received from the “Maternal and Child Health Block Grant,” Title V of the “Social Security Act,” 95 Stat. 818 (1981), 42 U.S.C.A. 701, as amended, for programs including the program for medically handicapped children, and to provide technical assistance and consultation to city and general health districts and local health planning organizations in implementing local, community-based, family-centered, coordinated systems of care for medically handicapped children. The department may make grants to persons and other entities for the provision of services with the funds. In addition, the department may use the funds to purchase liability insurance covering the provision of services under the programs by physicians and other health care professionals, and to pay health insurance premiums on behalf of medically handicapped children participating in the program for medically handicapped children when the department determines, in accordance with criteria set forth in rules adopted under division (A)(9) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code, that payment of the premiums is cost effective.

In determining eligibility for services provided with funds received from the “Maternal and Child Health Block Grant,” the department may use the application form established under section 5111.013 of the Revised Code. The department may require applicants to furnish their social security numbers.

Effective Date: 01-14-1993

(A) The following records of the program for medically handicapped children and of programs funded with funds received from the “Maternal and Child Health Block Grant,” Title V of the “Social Security Act,” 95 Stat. 818 (1981), 42 U.S.C.A. 701, as amended, are confidential and are not public records within the meaning of section 149.43 of the Revised Code:

(1) Records that pertain to medical history, diagnosis, treatment, or medical condition;

(2) Reports of psychological diagnosis and treatment and reports of social workers;

(3) Reports of public health nurses.

(B) The department of health shall not release any records specified in division (A) of this section without consent of the subject of the record or, if the subject is a minor, his parent or guardian, except as necessary to do any of the following:

(1) Administer the program for medically handicapped children or other programs funded with funds received from the “Maternal and Child Health Block Grant”;

(2) Coordinate the provision of services under the programs with other state agencies and city and general health districts;

(3) Coordinate payment of providers.

No person or government entity to whom the director, for the purposes specified in this division, releases records described in division (A) of this section shall release those records without consent of the subject of the record or, if the subject is a minor, his parent or guardian, except as necessary for any of the reasons described in this division.

Effective Date: 01-14-1993

Subject to available funds, the department of health shall establish and administer a hemophilia program to provide payment of health insurance premiums for Ohio residents who meet all of the following requirements:

(A) Have been diagnosed with hemophilia or a related bleeding disorder;

(B) Are at least twenty-one years of age;

(C) Meet the eligibility requirements established by rules adopted under division (A)(12) of section 3701.021 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

The medically handicapped children’s medical advisory council shall appoint a hemophilia advisory subcommittee to advise the director of health and council on all matters pertaining to the care and treatment of persons with hemophilia. The duties of the subcommittee include, but are not limited to, the monitoring of care and treatment of children and adults who suffer from hemophilia or from other similar blood disorders.

The subcommittee shall consist of not fewer than fifteen members, each of whom shall be appointed to terms of four years. The members of the subcommittee shall elect a chairperson from among the appointed membership to serve a term of two years. Members of the subcommittee shall serve without compensation, except that they may be reimbursed for travel expenses to and from meetings of the subcommittee.

Members shall be appointed to represent all geographic areas of this state. Not fewer than five members of the subcommittee shall be persons with hemophilia or family members of persons with hemophilia. Not fewer than five members shall be providers of health care services to persons with hemophilia. Not fewer than five members shall be experts in fields of importance to treatment of persons with hemophilia, including experts in infectious diseases, insurance, and law.

Notwithstanding section 101.83 of the Revised Code, that section does not apply to the medically handicapped children’s medical advisory council hemophilia advisory subcommittee, and the subcommittee shall not expire under that section.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003

(A) The director of health shall perform duties that are incident to the director’s position as chief executive officer of the department of health. The director shall administer the laws relating to health and sanitation and the rules of the department of health. The director may designate employees of the department and, during a public health emergency, other persons to administer the laws and rules on the director’s behalf.

(B) Nothing in this section authorizes any action that prevents the fulfillment of duties or impairs the exercise of authority established by law for any other person or entity.

(C) The director shall prepare sanitary and public health rules for consideration by the public health council and submit to the council recommendations for new legislation. The director shall sit at meetings of the council but shall have no vote.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) The director of health shall accept and administer grants received from the federal government or other sources, public or private, that are made available for use in monitoring, studying, and preventing pregnancy losses. To the extent that funding from grants is available, the director shall do the following:

(1) Establish a population-based pregnancy loss registry to monitor the incidence of various types of pregnancy losses that occur in this state, make appropriate epidemiological studies to determine any causal relations of the pregnancy losses with occupational, nutritional, environmental, genetic, or infectious conditions, and determine what can be done to prevent such losses;

(2) Advise, consult, cooperate with, and assist, by contract or otherwise, agencies of the state and federal government, agencies of governments of other states, agencies of political subdivisions of this state, universities, private organizations, corporations, and associations for the purpose of division (A)(1) of this section.

(B) The director may adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to specify the reporting requirements for physicians as necessary to accomplish the purposes of this section.

(C) As used in this section, “pregnancy loss” means a termination of pregnancy within the first twenty weeks of pregnancy either spontaneously or by means other than the purposeful termination of a pregnancy as described in section 2919.11 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-30-1997

The director of health may adopt rules defining what constitutes a “health home” for the purpose of any entity that is authorized to provide care coordination services. The rules shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

Added by 129th General Assembly File No. 28, HB 153, § 101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

(A) The director of health shall:

(1) Require reports and make inspections and investigations that the director considers necessary;

(2) Provide administration, appoint personnel, make reports, and take other action as necessary to comply with the requirements of the “Construction and Modernization of Hospitals and Other Medical Facilities Act,” Title VI of the “Public Health Service Act,” 60 Stat. 1041 (1946), 42 U.S.C. 291, as amended, and the regulations adopted under that act;

(3) Procure by contract the temporary or intermittent services of experts, consultants, or organizations when those services are to be performed on a part-time or fee-for-service basis and do not involve the performance of administrative duties;

(4) Enter into agreements for the utilization of the facilities and services of other departments, agencies, and institutions, public or private;

(5) On behalf of the state, solicit, accept, hold, administer, and deposit in the state treasury to the credit of the general operations fund created in section 3701.83 of the Revised Code, any grant, gift, devise, bequest, or contribution made to assist in meeting the cost of carrying out the director’s responsibilities and expend the grant, gift, devise, bequest, or contribution for the purpose for which made. Fees collected by the director in connection with meetings and conferences shall also be credited to the fund and expended for the purposes for which paid.

(6) Make an annual report to the governor on activities and expenditures, including recommendations for such additional legislation as the director considers appropriate to furnish adequate hospital, clinic, and similar facilities to the people of this state.

(7) Establish a system for recruiting, registering, training, and deploying volunteers the director determines are advisable and reasonably necessary to respond to an emergency involving the public’s health.

(B) The director of health may enter into agreements to sell services offered by the department of health to boards of health of city and general health districts and to other departments, agencies, and institutions of this state, other states, or the United States. Fees collected by the director for the sale of services shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the general operations fund created in section 3701.83 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004; 04-14-2006

(A) The employee assistance program is hereby established for the purpose of referring state employees paid by warrant of the director of budget and management who are in need of medical, social, or other services to providers of those services.

The director of health, in consultation with the director of budget and management, shall determine a rate at which the payrolls of all state agencies with employees paid by warrant of the director of budget and management shall be charged each pay period that is sufficient to cover the costs of administering the program. The rate shall be based upon the total number of such employees and may be adjusted as the director of health, in consultation with the director of budget and management, considers necessary. All money collected from the assessment shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the employee assistance general services fund, which is hereby created. The fund shall be used by the director of health to administer the program.

(B) Records of the identity, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment of any person that are maintained in connection with the employee assistance program created in division (A) of this section are not public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code and shall be disclosed only as provided in division (C) of this section.

(C)(1) Records described in division (B) of this section may be disclosed with the prior written consent of the person who is the subject of the record.

(2) Records described in division (B) of this section may be disclosed with or without the prior written consent of the person who is the subject of the record under the following conditions:

(a) To medical personnel to the extent necessary to meet a bona fide medical emergency;

(b) To qualified personnel for the purpose of conducting scientific research, management audits, financial audits, or program evaluation, but the personnel shall not directly or indirectly identify any person who is the subject of the record in any report of the research, audit, or evaluation or in any other manner;

(c) If authorized by an appropriate order of a court of competent jurisdiction granted after a showing of good cause. In determining good cause, the court shall weigh the public interest and the need for disclosure against injury to the person who is the subject of the record and to the employee assistance program. Upon granting such an order, the court shall, in determining the extent to which the disclosure of all or any part of any record is necessary, impose appropriate safeguards against unauthorized disclosure.

(D) Except as authorized by a court order described in division (C)(2)(c) of this section, no record described in division (B) of this section may be used to initiate or substantiate criminal charges against the person who is the subject of the record or to conduct any investigation of such a person.

Effective Date: 07-24-1990; 12-01-2006

Effective Date: 01-01-1998

If authorized by federal statute or regulation, the director of health may establish and collect fees for conducting the initial certification of any person or entity as a provider of health services for purposes of the medicare program established under Title XVIII of the “Social Security Act,” 49 Stat. 620 (1935), 42 U.S.C.A. 301, as amended. The fee established for conducting an initial medicare certification shall not exceed the actual and necessary costs incurred by the department of health in conducting the certification.

All fees collected under this section shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the medicare initial certification fund, which is hereby created. Money credited to the fund shall be used solely to pay the costs of conducting initial medicare certifications.

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

When the director of health or department of health is required or authorized to conduct or administer an examination or evaluation of individuals for the purpose of determining competency or for the purpose of issuing a license, certificate, registration, or other authority to practice or perform duties, the director or department may provide for the examination or evaluation by contracting with any public or private entity to conduct or administer the examination or evaluation. The contract may authorize the entity to collect and retain, as all or part of the entity’s compensation under the contract, any fee paid by an individual for the examination or evaluation. An entity authorized to collect and retain a fee is not required to deposit the fee into the state treasury.

Except when considered to be necessary by the director or department, the director or department shall not disclose test materials, examinations, or evaluation tools used in any examination or evaluation the director or department conducts, administers, or provides for by contract. The test materials, examinations, and evaluation tools are not public records for the purpose of section 149.43 of the Revised Code and are not subject to inspection or copying under section 1347.08 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

(A) The department of health, in consultation with the children’s trust fund board established under section 3109.15 of the Revised Code and any bodies acting as child fatality review boards on October 5, 2000, shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that establish a procedure for child fatality review boards to follow in conducting a review of the death of a child. The rules shall do all of the following:

(1) Establish the format for the annual reports required by section 307.626 of the Revised Code;

(2) Establish guidelines for a child fatality review board to follow in compiling statistics for annual reports so that the reports do not contain any information that would permit any person’s identity to be ascertained from a report;

(3) Establish guidelines for a child fatality review board to follow in creating and maintaining the comprehensive database of child deaths required by section 307.623 of the Revised Code, including provisions establishing uniform record-keeping procedures;

(4) Establish guidelines for reporting child fatality review data to the department of health or a national child death review database, either of which must maintain the confidentiality of information that would permit a person’s identity to be ascertained;

(5) Establish guidelines, materials, and training to help educate members of child fatality review boards about the purpose of the review process and the confidentiality of the information described in section 307.629 of the Revised Code and to make them aware that such information is not a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(B) On or before the thirtieth day of September of each year, the department of health and the children’s trust fund board jointly shall prepare and publish a report organizing and setting forth the data from the department of health child death review database or the national child death review database, data in all the reports provided by child fatality review boards in their annual reports for the previous calendar year, and recommendations for any changes to law and policy that might prevent future deaths. The department and the children’s trust fund board jointly shall provide a copy of the report to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the minority leaders of the house of representatives and the senate, each county or regional child fatality review board, and each county or regional family and children first council.

Amended by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 10-05-2000

The director of health is authorized to make grants for women’s health services from funds appropriated for that purpose by the general assembly.

None of the funds received through grants for women’s health services shall be used to provide abortion services. None of the funds received through these grants shall be used for counseling for or referrals for abortion, except in the case of a medical emergency. These funds shall be distributed by the director to programs that the department of health determines will provide services that are physically and financially separate from abortion-providing and abortion-promoting activities, and that do not include counseling for or referrals for abortion, other than in the case of medical emergency.

These women’s health services include and are limited to the following: pelvic examinations and laboratory testing; breast examinations and patient education on breast cancer; screening for cervical cancer; screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV screening; voluntary choice of contraception, including abstinence and natural family planning; patient education and pre-pregnancy counseling on the dangers of smoking, alcohol, and drug use during pregnancy; education on sexual coercion and violence in relationships; and prenatal care or referral for prenatal care. These health care services shall be provided in a medical clinic setting by persons authorized under Chapter. 4731 of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery; authorized under Chapter 4730. of the Revised Code to practice as a physician assistant; licensed under Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code as a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse; or licensed under Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code as a social worker, independent social worker, professional clinical counselor, or professional counselor.

The director shall adopt rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code specifying reasonable eligibility standards that must be met to receive the state funding and provide reasonable methods by which a grantee wishing to be eligible for federal funding may comply with these requirements for state funding without losing its eligibility for federal funding.

Each applicant for these funds shall provide sufficient assurance to the director of all of the following:

(A) The program shall not discriminate in the provision of services based on an individual’s religion, race, national origin, handicapping condition, age, sex, number of pregnancies, or marital status;

(B) The program shall provide services without subjecting individuals to any coercion to accept services or to employ any particular methods of family planning;

(C) Acceptance of services shall be solely on a voluntary basis and may not be made a prerequisite to eligibility for, or receipt of, any other service, assistance from, or participation in, any other program of the service provider;

(D) Any charges for services provided by the program shall be based on the patient’s ability to pay and priority in the provision of services shall be given to persons from low-income families.

In distributing these grant funds, the director shall give priority to grant requests from local departments of health for women’s health services to be provided directly by personnel of the local department of health. The director shall issue a single request for proposals for all grants for women’s health services. The director shall send a notification of this request for proposals to every local department of health in this state and shall place a notification on the department’s web site. The director shall allow at least thirty days after issuing this notification before closing the period to receive applications.

After the closing date for receiving grant applications, the director shall first consider grant applications from local departments of health that apply for grants for women’s health services to be provided directly by personnel of the local department of health. Local departments of health that apply for grants for women’s health services to be provided directly by personnel of the local department of health need not provide all the listed women’s health services in order to qualify for a grant. However, in prioritizing awards among local departments of health that qualify for funding under this paragraph, the director may consider, among other reasonable factors, the comprehensiveness of the women’s health services to be offered, provided that no local department of health shall be discriminated against in the process of awarding these grant funds because the applicant does not provide contraception.

If funds remain after awarding grants to all local departments of health that qualify for the priority, the director may make grants to other applicants. Awards to other applicants may be made to those applicants that will offer all eight of the listed women’s health services or that will offer all of the services except contraception. No applicant shall be discriminated against in the process of awarding these grant funds because the applicant does not provide contraception.

Effective Date: 03-30-2006

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Federally qualified health center” means a health center that receives a federal public health services grant under the “Public Health Services Act,” 117 Stat. 2020, 42 U.S.C. 254b, as amended, or another health center designated by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration as a federally qualified health center.

(2) “Federally qualified health center look-alike” means a public or not-for-profit health center that meets the eligibility requirements to receive a federal public health services grant under the “Public Health Services Act,” 117 Stat. 2020, 42 U.S.C. 254b, as amended, but does not receive grant funding.

(B) The department of health may enter into an agreement with the state’s primary care association to promote the establishment of new federally qualified health centers and federally qualified health center look-alikes.

The department and the association may assist local communities and community health centers by providing grants and grant writing assistance to establish health centers as defined in 42 U.S.C. 254b, regardless of whether the health centers apply for a grant under that section.

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

The director of health shall keep the public health council, health officials, and the general public fully informed in a printed annual report in regard to the work of the department of health and on the progress that is being made in studying the cause and prevention of disease and such kindred subjects as may contribute to the welfare of the people of the state.

Effective Date: 07-01-1985

The director of health and any person the director authorizes may, without fee or hindrance, enter, examine, and survey all grounds, vehicles, apartments, buildings, and places in furtherance of any duty laid upon the director or department of health or where the director has reason to believe there exists a violation of any health law or rule.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) The public health council shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code defining and classifying hospitals and dispensaries and providing for the reporting of information by hospitals and dispensaries. Except as otherwise provided in the Revised Code, the rules providing for the reporting of information shall not require inclusion of any confidential patient data or any information concerning the financial condition, income, expenses, or net worth of the facilities other than that financial information already contained in those portions of the medicare or medicaid cost report that is necessary for the department of health to certify the per diem cost under section 3701.62 of the Revised Code. The rules may require the reporting of information in the following categories:

(1) Information needed to identify and classify the institution;

(2) Information on facilities and type and volume of services provided by the institution;

(3) The number of beds listed by category of care provided;

(4) The number of licensed or certified professional employees by classification;

(5) The number of births that occurred at the institution the previous calendar year;

(6) Any other information that the council considers relevant to the safety of patients served by the institution.

Every hospital and dispensary, public or private, annually shall register with and report to the department of health. Reports shall be submitted in the manner prescribed in rules adopted under this division.

(B) Every governmental entity or private nonprofit corporation or association whose employees or representatives are defined as residents’ rights advocates under divisions (E)(1) and (2) of section 3721.10 of the Revised Code shall register with the department of health on forms furnished by the director of health and shall provide such reasonable identifying information as the director may prescribe.

The department shall compile a list of the governmental entities, corporations, or associations registering under this division and shall update the list annually. Copies of the list shall be made available to nursing home administrators as defined in division (C) of section 3721.10 of the Revised Code and to adult care facility managers as defined in section 5119.70 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 129th General Assembly File No. 28, HB 153, § 101.01, eff. 7/1/2011.

Amended by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) As used in this section :

(1) “Indigent and uninsured person” has the same meaning as in section 2305.234 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Nonprofit shelter or health care facility” means a charitable nonprofit corporation organized and operated pursuant to Chapter 1702. of the Revised Code, or any charitable organization not organized and not operated for profit, that provides shelter, health care services, or shelter and health care services to indigent and uninsured persons. “Nonprofit shelter or health care facility” does not include a hospital, as defined in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code, a facility licensed under Chapter 3721. of the Revised Code, or a medical facility that is operated for profit.

(B) A nonprofit shelter or health care facility operating in this state shall register on the first day of January each year with the department of health. The immunity provided by division (E) of section 2305.234 of the Revised Code is not available to a nonprofit shelter or health care facility until the shelter or facility registers with the department in accordance with this section.

(C) A nonprofit shelter or health care facility operating in this state shall keep records of all patients who receive medical, dental, or other health-related diagnosis, care, or treatment at the shelter or facility. The department of health shall monitor the quality of care provided to patients at nonprofit shelters or health care facilities. The monitoring program may be conducted by contracting with another entity or through any other method authorized by law. The department may solicit and accept funds from private sources to fund the monitoring program.

Effective Date: 04-13-2004

(A) As used in this chapter:

(1) “Bioterrorism” has the same meaning as in section 3701.232 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Surveillance” in the public health service means the systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data on an ongoing basis, to gain knowledge of the pattern of disease occurrence and potential in a community in order to control and prevent disease in the community.

(3) “Trauma center” has the same meaning as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) The public health council shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that require a trauma center to report information to the director of health describing the trauma center’s preparedness and capacity to respond to disasters, mass casualties, and bioterrorism. The council’s rules may require the reporting of any information the council considers necessary for an accurate description of a trauma center’s preparedness and capacity to respond to disasters, mass casualties, and bioterrorism. Information reported pursuant to this division is not a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(C) Upon request, the department of health shall provide a summary report of the public health council’s rules adopted pursuant to this section.

(D) The director shall review all information received pursuant to this section. After reviewing the information, the director may conduct an evaluation of a trauma center’s preparedness and capacity to respond to disasters, mass casualties, and bioterrorism. An evaluation conducted pursuant to this division is not a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) The department of health is hereby designated as the state agency responsible for administering the medicare rural hospital flexibility program, as established in 42 U.S.C. 1395i-4, as amended.

(B) The director of health shall designate as a critical access hospital a hospital registered as an acute care hospital with the department under section 3701.07 of the Revised Code if the hospital meets the following requirements:

(1) Has not more than twenty-five acute care and swing beds in use at any time for the furnishing of extended care or acute care inpatient services;

(2) Has a length of stay not more than ninety-six hours per patient, on an annual average basis;

(3) Provides inpatient, outpatient, emergency, laboratory, radiology, and twenty-four hour emergency care services;

(4) Has network agreements in place for patient referral and transfer, a communication system for telemetry systems, electronic sharing of patient data, provision for emergency and non-emergency transportation, and assures credentialing and quality assurance;

(5) Was certified as a critical access hospital by the centers for medicare and medicaid services between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2005, or is located in a rural area as identified below:

(a) An area within an Ohio metropolitan area designated as a rural area by the United States department of health and human services, office of rural health policy, in accordance with 42 C.F.R. 412.103 regarding rural urban commuting area codes four through ten in effect on the effective date of this section;

(b) A non-metropolitan county as designated in United States office of management and budget bulletin no. 93-17, June 30, 1993, and its attachments;

(c) A rural zip code within a metropolitan county as designated in United States office of management and budget bulletin no. 93-17, June 30, 1993, and its attachments.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

The department of health constitutes the sole agency of the state for the purpose of:

(A) Making an inventory of existing hospitals and medical facilities, surveying the need for construction and modernization of hospitals and medical facilities, and developing a program of hospital and medical facilities construction and modernization as provided in sections 3701.01, 3701.04, 3701.08, 3701.09, and 3701.37 to 3701.45 of the Revised Code.

(B) Developing and administering a state plan for the construction and modernization of public and other nonprofit hospitals and medical facilities as provided in sections 3701.01, 3701.04, 3701.08, 3701.09, and 3701.37 to 3701.45 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 12-02-1996

The director of health shall make an inventory of existing hospitals and medical facilities including public, nonprofit, and proprietary hospitals and medical facilities, survey the need for construction and modernization of hospitals and medical facilities and, on the basis of such inventory and survey, develop a program for the construction and modernization of such public and other nonprofit hospitals and medical facilities as will, in conjunction with existing facilities, afford the necessary physical facilities for furnishing adequate hospital and medical facilities services to all the people of the state.

Effective Date: 09-24-1971

The director of health may require any district health commissioner to attend, immediately after his appointment, a school of instruction to be conducted by the department of health at Columbus. The course at such school of instruction shall not exceed four weeks in duration, and the necessary expenses of the commissioner in attending such school shall be paid by the district board of health upon certification from the director that such officer has attended the school.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The director of health and the secretary of the public health council shall have power to administer oaths in all parts of the state so far as the exercise of such power is incidental to the performance of the duties of the director or of the council.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The director of health may be removed from office by the governor, only upon recommendation of the public health council. Charges against the director must be submitted in writing, and, after hearing, the council must have found, by a majority vote of the entire council, such charges to be true in fact, and their nature such that, in its opinion, the best interests of the state demand such removal. A member of the council may be removed by the governor for incompetence or gross neglect of duty.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The department of health shall have supervision of all matters relating to the preservation of the life and health of the people and have ultimate authority in matters of quarantine and isolation, which it may declare and enforce, when neither exists, and modify, relax, or abolish, when either has been established. The department may approve methods of immunization against the diseases specified in section 3313.671 of the Revised Code for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of that section and take such actions as are necessary to encourage vaccination against those diseases.

The department may make special or standing orders or rules for preventing the use of fluoroscopes for nonmedical purposes which emit doses of radiation likely to be harmful to any person, for preventing the spread of contagious or infectious diseases, for governing the receipt and conveyance of remains of deceased persons, and for such other sanitary matters as are best controlled by a general rule. Whenever possible, the department shall work in cooperation with the health commissioner of a general or city health district. It may make and enforce orders in local matters when an emergency exists, or when the board of health of a general or city health district has neglected or refused to act with sufficient promptness or efficiency, or when such board has not been established as provided by sections 3709.02, 3709.03, 3709.05, 3709.06, 3709.11, 3709.12, and 3709.14 of the Revised Code. In such cases the necessary expense incurred shall be paid by the general health district or city for which the services are rendered.

The department may make evaluative studies of the nutritional status of Ohio residents, and of the food and nutrition-related programs operating within the state. Every agency of the state, at the request of the department, shall provide information and otherwise assist in the execution of such studies.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004; 05-06-2005

The director of health shall:

(A) Encourage and assist in the development of programs of education and research pertaining to the causes, detection, and treatment of sickle cell disease and provide for rehabilitation and counseling of persons possessing the trait of or afflicted with this disease;

(B) Advise, consult, cooperate with, and assist, by contract or otherwise, agencies of this state and the federal government, agencies of the governments of other states, agencies of political subdivisions of this state, and private organizations, corporations, and associations in the development and promotion of programs pertaining to the causes, detection, and treatment of sickle cell disease and rehabilitation and counseling of persons possessing the trait of or afflicted with this disease;

(C) Accept and administer grants from the federal government or other sources, public or private, for carrying out any of the functions enumerated in divisions (A) and (B) of this section;

(D) Submit a written report to the general assembly on or before the twenty-first day of August of each year outlining the receipt and disbursement of funds and the implementation and progress of various programs undertaken pursuant to this section during the preceding fiscal year.

Effective Date: 07-01-1985

The department of health is hereby designated as the state agency to administer the “special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children” established under the “Child Nutrition Act of 1966,” 80 Stat. 885, 42 U.S.C. 1786, as amended. The public health council may adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as necessary for administering the program. The rules may include civil money penalties for violations of the rules.

In determining eligibility for services provided under the program, the department may use the application form established under section 5111.013 of the Revised Code for the healthy start program. The department may require applicants to furnish their social security numbers.

If the department determines that a vendor has committed an act with respect to the program that federal statutes or regulations or state statutes or rules prohibit, the department shall take action against the vendor in the manner required by 7 C.F.R. part 246, including imposition of a civil money penalty in accordance with 7 C.F.R. 246.12, or rules adopted under this section.

Effective Date: 09-14-2000

(A) The department of health shall make available on its web site information about the risks associated with meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B, the availability of vaccines, and the effectiveness of the vaccines. The department shall provide written notice of the availability of meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B information on the web site to all of the following:

(1) Each city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district, as defined in Chapter 3311. of the Revised Code;

(2) Each nonpublic school, whether chartered, nonchartered, or nontax supported, that enrolls students in ninth grade or the equivalent educational level;

(3) Each community school created under section 3314.01 of the Revised Code, that enrolls students in ninth grade or the equivalent educational level;

(4) Each state institution of higher education, as defined in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code;

(5) Each nonprofit institution of higher education, as defined in section 1713.55 of the Revised Code;

(6) Each private career school, as defined in section 3332.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) In addition to the information provided for in division (A) of this section, the department of health shall make available on its web site, in a format suitable for downloading, a meningitis and hepatitis B vaccination status statement form for a student or, if the student is younger than eighteen years of age, the student’s parent, to complete to disclose whether the student has been vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B. The form shall include all of the following:

(1) The information described in division (A) of this section and a means for the student or the student’s parent to acknowledge having received and read the information;

(2) A space for the student or the student’s parent to indicate one of the following:

(a) The student has been vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis, and the year the vaccination was given.

(b) The student has not been vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis.

(3) A space for the student or the student’s parent to indicate one of the following:

(a) The student has been vaccinated against hepatitis B, and the year the vaccination was given.

(b) The student has not been vaccinated against hepatitis B.

Effective Date: 07-14-2004

To the extent appropriations made by the general assembly make this possible, the director of health shall provide, for the purpose of section 3313.671 of the Revised Code, the means of immunization against chicken pox to boards of health, legislative authorities of municipal corporations, and boards of township trustees.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) The autism diagnosis education pilot program is hereby established in the department of health. The program shall have the following goals:

(1) To educate health care professionals, teachers and other educational personnel, child care providers, parents, early intervention and developmental disabilities providers, and other community-based services providers in this state regarding the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, including the range of symptoms that may indicate autism spectrum disorders and screening tools;

(2) To promote appropriate standards for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children, including screening tools and treatment planning for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders;

(3) To encourage physicians and other health care professionals with expertise in screening, diagnosing, and treating autism spectrum disorders to share that information with other health care professionals in this state;

(4) To encourage the regional coordination of services to facilitate the effective, timely treatment of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.

(B) The director of health shall contract with a statewide association representing pediatric physicians to conduct or administer the autism diagnosis education pilot program.

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

(A) The director of health may establish a school-based fluoride mouth rinse program. If the director establishes the program, divisions (B) to (E) of this section are applicable.

(B) The director shall conduct a program to educate employees of the department of health and dental hygienists licensed under Chapter 4715. of the Revised Code on how to train employees of, and volunteers for, public and nonpublic schools regarding the proper means of administering fluoride mouth rinse to students.

(C) Schools that participate in the school-based fluoride mouth rinse program shall require that their employees and volunteers who intend to administer fluoride mouth rinse to students receive training, by either of the following, on the proper means of administering fluoride mouth rinse to students:

(1) An employee of the department of health or a dental hygienist who has been trained through the program the director conducts pursuant to division (B) of this section;

(2) A school employee or volunteer who has been trained by an individual described in division (C)(1) of this section.

(D)(1) The director shall prescribe a form that the parent, guardian, or other person having care or charge of a student enrolled in a public or nonpublic school that participates in the school-based fluoride mouth rinse program may use to consent to the administration of fluoride mouth rinse to the student for the duration of the student’s enrollment in that school. School employees or volunteers shall not administer fluoride mouth rinse to a student unless the consent form from the student’s parent, guardian, or other person has been received.

(2) The consent form shall include all of the following:

(a) A space designated for the student’s name and address;

(b) A space designated for the name of the student’s school;

(c) A space designated for the student’s grade level and class;

(d) A space designated for the signature of the parent, guardian, or other person who authorizes the administration of fluoride mouth rinse to the student;

(e) Information on the name, dosage, and intervals at which the fluoride mouth rinse is scheduled to be administered during each school year;

(f) The dates the administration of fluoride mouth rinse is to begin and cease, which may, respectively, be the first and last days of a school year;

(g) Any other information or spaces the director considers necessary for the proper administration of the program.

(E) The director may adopt rules as necessary to implement and administer the school-based fluoride mouth rinse program. The rules shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

Added by 128th General Assembly File No. 34, HB 190, § 1, eff. 8/31/2010.

(A) The director of health shall investigate or make inquiry as to the cause of disease or illness, including contagious, infectious, epidemic, pandemic, or endemic conditions, and take prompt action to control and suppress it. The reports of births and deaths, the sanitary conditions and effects of localities and employments, the personal and business habits of the people that affect their health, and the relation of the diseases of man and beast, shall be subjects of study by the director. The director may make and execute orders necessary to protect the people against diseases of lower animals, and shall collect and preserve information in respect to such matters and kindred subjects as may be useful in the discharge of the director’s duties, and for dissemination among the people. When called upon by the state or local governments, or the board of health of a general or city health district, the director shall promptly investigate and report upon the water supply, sewerage, disposal of excreta of any locality, and the heating, plumbing, and ventilation of a public building.

(B) Information obtained during an investigation or inquiry that the director currently is conducting pursuant to division (A) of this section and that is not yet complete is confidential during the course of that investigation or inquiry and shall not be released except pursuant to division (D) or (J) of this section or under one of the following conditions:

(1) The confidential information is released pursuant to a search warrant or subpoena issued by or at the request of a grand jury or prosecutor, as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code.

(2) The director has entered into a written agreement to share or exchange the information with a person or government entity, and that agreement requires the person or entity to comply with the confidentiality requirements established under this section.

(3) The information is contained in a preliminary report released by the director pursuant to division (G)(1) of this section.

(C) Division (B) of this section applies during any investigation or inquiry the director makes pursuant to division (A) of this section, notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code that establishes the manner of maintaining confidentiality or the release of information, except that the confidentiality and release of protected health information under section 3701.17 of the Revised Code is governed by that section.

(D) Nothing in this section bars the release of information that is in summary, statistical, or aggregate form and that does not identify a person. Information that is in summary, statistical, or aggregate form and that does not identify a person is a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(E) Nothing in this section authorizes the director to conduct an independent criminal investigation without the consent of each local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction to conduct the criminal investigation.

(F) Except for information released pursuant to division (G) or (J) of this section, any disclosure pursuant to this section shall be in writing and accompanied by a written statement that includes the following or substantially similar language: “This information has been disclosed to you from confidential records protected from disclosure by state law. If this information has been released to you in other than a summary, statistical, or aggregate form, you shall make no further disclosure of this information without the specific, written, and informed release of the person to whom it pertains, or as otherwise permitted by state law. A general authorization for the release of medical or other information is not sufficient for the release of information pursuant to this section.”

(G)(1) If an investigation or inquiry the director currently is conducting pursuant to division (A) of this section is not completed within six months after the date of commencement, the director shall prepare and release a report containing preliminary findings. Every six months thereafter, the director shall prepare and release a supplementary preliminary report until such time as the investigation or inquiry is completed.

(2) Upon completion of an investigation or inquiry conducted pursuant to division (A) of this section, the director shall prepare and release a final report containing the director’s findings.

(H) No report prepared by the director pursuant to this section shall contain protected health information, as defined in section 3701.17 of the Revised Code.

(I) The director shall adopt, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, rules establishing the manner in which the reports prepared by the director pursuant to this section are to be released.

(J) The director shall release information obtained during an investigation or inquiry that the director currently is conducting pursuant to division (A) of this section and that is not yet complete, if the director determines the release of the information is necessary, based on an evaluation of relevant information, to avert or mitigate a clear threat to an individual or to the public health. Information released pursuant to this division shall be limited to the release of the information to those persons necessary to control, prevent, or mitigate disease or illness.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) There is hereby created in the department of health the women’s health program, .

(B) To the extent funds are available, the women’s health program shall:

(1) Identify, review, and assist the director in the coordination of programs and resources the department of health is committing to women’s health concerns, including the department’s women’s and infants’ program activities;

(2) Advocate for women’s health by requesting that the department conduct, sponsor, encourage, or fund research; establish additional programs regarding women’s health concerns as needed; and monitor the research and program efforts;

(3) Collect, classify, and store relevant research conducted by the department or other entities, and provide, unless otherwise prohibited by law, interested persons access to research results;

(4) Apply for grant opportunities.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003

Effective Date: 06-26-2003

For purposes of sections 1547.11, 4511.19, and 4511.194 of the Revised Code, the director of health shall determine, or cause to be determined, techniques or methods for chemically analyzing a person’s whole blood, blood serum or plasma, urine, breath, or other bodily substance in order to ascertain the amount of alcohol, a drug of abuse, controlled substance, metabolite of a controlled substance, or combination of them in the person’s whole blood, blood serum or plasma, urine, breath, or other bodily substance. The director shall approve satisfactory techniques or methods, ascertain the qualifications of individuals to conduct such analyses, and issue permits to qualified persons authorizing them to perform such analyses. Such permits shall be subject to termination or revocation at the discretion of the director.

As used in this section, “drug of abuse” has the same meaning as in section 4506.01 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 04-16-1993; 08-17-2006

Effective Date: 06-26-2003

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

(A) In taking actions regarding tuberculosis, the director of health has all of the following duties and powers:

(1) The director shall maintain registries of hospitals, clinics, physicians, or other care providers to whom the director shall refer persons who make inquiries to the department of health regarding possible exposure to tuberculosis.

(2) The director shall engage in tuberculosis surveillance activities, including the collection and analysis of epidemiological information relative to the frequency of tuberculosis infection, demographic and geographic distribution of tuberculosis cases, and trends pertaining to tuberculosis.

(3) The director shall maintain a tuberculosis registry to record the incidence of tuberculosis in this state.

(4) The director may appoint physicians to serve as tuberculosis consultants for geographic regions of the state specified by the director. Each tuberculosis consultant shall act in accordance with rules the director establishes and shall be responsible for advising and assisting physicians and other health care practitioners who participate in tuberculosis control activities and for reviewing medical records pertaining to the treatment provided to individuals with tuberculosis.

(B)(1) The public health council shall adopt rules establishing standards for the following:

(a) Performing tuberculosis screenings;

(b) Performing examinations of individuals who have been exposed to tuberculosis and individuals who are suspected of having tuberculosis;

(c) Providing treatment to individuals with tuberculosis;

(d) Preventing individuals with communicable tuberculosis from infecting other individuals;

(e) Performing laboratory tests for tuberculosis and studies of the resistance of tuberculosis to one or more drugs;

(f) Selecting laboratories that provide in a timely fashion the results of a laboratory test for tuberculosis. The standards shall include a requirement that first consideration be given to laboratories located in this state.

(2) Rules adopted pursuant to this section shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code and may be consistent with any recommendations or guidelines on tuberculosis issued by the United States centers for disease control and prevention or by the American thoracic society. The rules shall apply to county or district tuberculosis control units, physicians who examine and treat individuals for tuberculosis, and laboratories that perform tests for tuberculosis.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004; 06-30-2005

Each year, the director of health shall make a report to the governor, which shall include so much of the proceedings of the department of health, information concerning vital statistics and diseases, instructions on the subject of hygiene for dissemination among the people and suggestions as to legislation as the director deems proper. The director shall include in the director’s annual report a full statement of all examinations made in the department’s public health laboratory authorized by section 3701.22 of the Revised Code, with a detailed account of all expenses.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

The director of health may purchase, store, and distribute antitoxins, serums, vaccines, immunizing agents, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical agents or medical supplies that the director deems advisable in the interest of preparing for or responding to a public health emergency. The discretion granted to the director by this section does not relieve the director of the duty to act under section 3701.161 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

The director of health shall make necessary arrangements for the production and distribution of diphtheria antitoxin. Such antitoxin shall in all respects be equal in purity and potency to the standard of requirements of the United States public health service for antitoxin for interstate commerce. Diphtheria antitoxin shall be distributed in accordance with rules the public health council adopts pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

Any licensed physician practicing in this state, or the superintendent of any state or county institution, may receive without charge the quantities of antitoxin as the physician or superintendent requires for the treatment or prevention of diphtheria in indigent persons, provided such antitoxin shall be used only for persons residing in the state, and that a sufficient supply is available for distribution.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Prosecutor” has the same meaning as in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Protected health information” means information, in any form, including oral, written, electronic, visual, pictorial, or physical that describes an individual’s past, present, or future physical or mental health status or condition, receipt of treatment or care, or purchase of health products, if either of the following applies:

(a) The information reveals the identity of the individual who is the subject of the information.

(b) The information could be used to reveal the identity of the individual who is the subject of the information, either by using the information alone or with other information that is available to predictable recipients of the information.

(B) Protected health information reported to or obtained by the director of health, the department of health, or a board of health of a city or general health district is confidential and shall not be released without the written consent of the individual who is the subject of the information unless the information is released pursuant to division (C) of this section or one of the following applies:

(1) The release of the information is necessary to provide treatment to the individual and the information is released pursuant to a written agreement that requires the recipient of the information to comply with the confidentiality requirements established under this section.

(2) The release of the information is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the information and the information is released pursuant to a written agreement that requires the recipient of the information to comply with the confidentiality requirements established under this section.

(3) The information is released pursuant to a search warrant or subpoena issued by or at the request of a grand jury or prosecutor in connection with a criminal investigation or prosecution.

(4) The director determines the release of the information is necessary, based on an evaluation of relevant information, to avert or mitigate a clear threat to an individual or to the public health. Information may be released pursuant to this division only to those persons or entities necessary to control, prevent, or mitigate disease.

(C) Information that does not identify an individual is not protected health information and may be released in summary, statistical, or aggregate form. Information that is in a summary, statistical, or aggregate form and that does not identify an individual is a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code and, upon request, shall be released by the director.

(D) Except for information released pursuant to division (B)(4) of this section, any disclosure pursuant to this section shall be in writing and accompanied by a written statement that includes the following or substantially similar language: “This information has been disclosed to you from confidential records protected from disclosure by state law. If this information has been released to you in other than a summary, statistical, or aggregate form, you shall make no further disclosure of this information without the specific, written, and informed release of the individual to whom it pertains, or as otherwise permitted by state law. A general authorization for the release of medical or other information is not sufficient for the release of information pursuant to this section.”

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

The director of health shall establish techniques and procedures as appropriate for use by the division of parks and recreation in the department of natural resources when taking samples and conducting tests under section 1541.032 of the Revised Code of the waters of this state that are adjacent to public swimming beaches as defined in that section. The director of health, in consultation with and subject to the approval of the director of natural resources, shall specify the frequency with which and location at which the waters are to be sampled and tested.

The director shall interpret the results of the water tests conducted under section 1541.032 of the Revised Code. If the director’s interpretation indicates that the bacteria levels in the waters tested present a possible health risk to persons using the waters for swimming and bathing and that the posting of signs advising the public of the condition is warranted, the director shall notify the chief of the division of parks and recreation.

Effective Date: 03-09-1999

Effective Date: 07-07-1993

As used in sections 3701.19 to 3701.201 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Poison prevention and treatment center” means an entity designated as a poison prevention and treatment center by the director of health under section 3701.20 of the Revised Code.

(B) “Harm” means injury, death, or loss to person or property.

(C) “Tort action” means a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property. “Tort action” includes a product liability claim that is subject to sections 2307.71 to 2307.80 of the Revised Code, but does not include a civil action for a breach of contract or another agreement between persons.

(D)(1) Subject to division (D)(2) of this section, “volunteer” means a trustee, officer, or agent of a poison prevention and treatment center, or another person associated with such a center, who satisfies both of the following:

(a) Performs services for or on behalf of, and under the authority or auspices of, the center;

(b) Does not receive compensation, either directly or indirectly, for performing those services.

(2) For purposes of division (D)(1) of this section, “compensation” does not include any of the following:

(a) Actual and necessary expenses that are incurred by a volunteer in connection with the services performed for a center, and that are reimbursed to the volunteer or otherwise paid;

(b) Insurance premiums paid on behalf of a volunteer, and amounts paid or reimbursed, pursuant to division (E) of section 1702.12 of the Revised Code;

(c) Modest perquisites.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) In accordance with rules adopted by the public health council, under division (C) of this section, the director of health shall establish, promote, and maintain the Ohio poison control network; designate regions within the network; and designate poison prevention and treatment centers within each region. The purposes of the network are to:

(1) Reduce the mortality resulting from and the expenditures incurred because of accidental, homicidal, suicidal, occupational, or environmental poisoning;

(2) Educate the public and health care professionals concerning the prevention and treatment of exposure to poison;

(3) Organize poison prevention and treatment activities on a regional basis to avoid duplication and waste.

(B) To be eligible for designation as a poison prevention and treatment center and to retain the designation, a center must maintain compliance with the standards established by the public health council pursuant to division (C) of this section. A poison prevention and treatment center may be operated by an individual, hospital, institution of higher education, political subdivision, association, corporation, or public or private agency.

(C) In accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, the public health council shall adopt rules that do the following:

(1) Establish guidelines, based on population density and other relevant factors, and procedures to be followed by the director of health in designating poison control network regions and centers;

(2) Establish standards for the operation of poison prevention and treatment centers;

(3) Establish standards and procedures to be followed by the director of health in making grants to poison prevention and treatment centers;

(4) Establish procedures, other than those prescribed by Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, for reconsideration, at the request of the entity affected, of the denial or revocation of a designation as a poison prevention and treatment center.

(D) In accordance with rules adopted by the public health council, the director of health shall make grants to poison prevention and treatment centers. A center is not eligible for a grant unless, prior to receiving the grant, the entity that operates the center agrees in writing that the level of the total funds, labor, and services devoted by the entity to the center during the period of the grant will approximate, as determined by the director of health, the level of the total funds, labor, and services devoted to the center by that entity in the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which the grant begins.

(E) Each poison prevention and treatment center shall do all of the following:

(1) Maintain and staff a twenty-four-hour per day, toll-free, telephone line to respond to inquiries and provide information about poison prevention and treatment and available services;

(2) Provide specialized treatment, consultation, information, and educational programs to health care professionals and the public;

(3) Compile information on the types and frequency of treatment it provides.

A center may provide the services described in divisions (E)(1) and (2) of this section either directly or through contract with other facilities, as the director of health considers appropriate. Each center shall take measures to ensure the confidentiality of information about individuals to whom treatment or services are provided.

(F) The director of health may revoke the designation of a poison treatment and control center, or deny an application for designation, if the center or applicant fails to meet or maintain the standards established by rule of the public health council. The entity seeking the designation may have the revocation or denial reconsidered in accordance with rules adopted by the public health council.

(G)(1) A poison prevention and treatment center, its officers, employees, volunteers, or other persons associated with the center, and a person, organization, or institution that advises or assists a poison prevention and treatment center are not liable in damages in a tort action for harm that allegedly arises from advice or assistance rendered to any person unless the advice or assistance is given in a manner that constitutes willful or wanton misconduct or intentionally tortious conduct.

(2) This section does not create, and shall not be construed as creating, a new cause of action or substantive legal right against a poison prevention and treatment center, its officers, employees, volunteers, or other persons associated with the center, or a person, organization, or institution that advises or assists a poison prevention and treatment center.

(3) This section does not affect, and shall not be construed as affecting, any immunities from civil liability or defenses conferred by any other section of the Revised Code or available at common law, to which a poison prevention and treatment center, its officers, employees, volunteers, or other persons associated with the center or a person, organization, or institution that advises or assists a poison prevention and treatment center may be entitled under circumstances not specified by this section.

(H) The director shall annually report to the general assembly findings and recommendations concerning the effectiveness, impact, and benefits of the poison prevention and treatment centers.

Effective Date: 10-30-1989

(A) As used in this section, “bioterrorism” has the same meaning as in section 3701.232 of the Revised Code.

(B) The public health council shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code under which a poison prevention and treatment center or other health-related entity is required to report events that may be caused by bioterrorism, epidemic or pandemic disease, or established or novel infectious agents or biological or chemical toxins posing a risk of human fatality or disability. Rules adopted under this section may require a report of any of the following:

(1) An unexpected pattern or increase in the number of telephone inquiries or requests to provide information about poison prevention and treatment and available services;

(2) An unexpected pattern or increase in the number of requests to provide specialized treatment, consultation, information, and educational programs to health care professionals and the public;

(3) An unexpected pattern or increase in the number of requests for information on established or novel infectious agents or biological or chemical toxins posing a risk of human fatality or disability that is relatively uncommon and may have been caused by bioterrorism.

(C) Each poison prevention and treatment center and other health-related entity shall comply with any reporting requirement established in rules adopted under division (B) of this section.

(D) Information reported under this section that is protected health information pursuant to section 3701.17 of the Revised Code shall be released only in accordance with that section. Information that does not identify an individual may be released in summary, statistical, or aggregate form.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Amblyopia” means reduced vision in an eye that has not received adequate use during early childhood.

(2) “501(c) organization” means an organization exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C.A. 501(a) and (c).

(B) There is hereby created in the state treasury the save our sight fund. The fund shall consist of voluntary contributions deposited as provided in section 4503.104 of the Revised Code. All investment earnings from the fund shall be credited to the fund.

(C) The director of health shall use the money in the save our sight fund as follows:

(1) To provide support to 501(c) organizations that offer vision services in all counties of the state and have demonstrated experience in the delivery of vision services to do one or more of the following:

(a) Implement a voluntary children’s vision screening training and certification program for volunteers, child care providers, nurses, teachers, health care professionals practicing in primary care settings, and others serving children;

(b) Provide materials for the program implemented under division (C)(1)(a) of this section;

(c) Develop and implement a registry and targeted voluntary case management system to determine whether children with amblyopia are receiving professional eye care and to provide their parents with information and support regarding their child’s vision care;

(d) Establish a matching grant program for the purchase and distribution of protective eyewear to children;

(e) Provide vision health and safety programs and materials for classrooms.

(2) For the purpose of section 4503.104 of the Revised Code, to develop and distribute informational materials on the importance of eye care and safety to the registrar of motor vehicles and each deputy registrar;

(3) To pay costs incurred by the director in administering the fund;

(4) To reimburse the bureau of motor vehicles for the administrative costs incurred in performing its duties under section 4503.104 of the Revised Code.

(D) A 501(c) organization seeking funding from the save our sight fund for any of the projects specified in division (C) of this section shall submit a request for the funding to the director in accordance with rules adopted under division (E) of this section. The director shall determine the appropriateness of and approve or disapprove projects for funding and approve or disapprove the disbursement of money from the save our sight fund.

(E) The public health council shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section. The rules shall include the parameters of the projects specified in division (C)(1) of this section that may be funded with money in the save our sight fund and procedures for 501(c) organizations to request funding from the fund.

Effective Date: 07-01-1999; 05-18-2005

The department of health shall maintain a public health laboratory for the following:

(A) Examination of public water supplies and the effluent of sewage purification works;

(B) Diagnosis of, screening for, or confirmation of diseases or pathogens as it deems necessary;

(C) Performance of biological, chemical, or radiological analyses or examinations as it deems necessary;

(D) Analysis of patient specimens and food samples necessary for investigation of foodborne illnesses. In foodborne illness investigations, the laboratory shall cooperate and consult with the director of agriculture acting pursuant to section 3715.02 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) The director of health shall have charge of the public health laboratory authorized by section 3701.22 of the Revised Code. The director may employ an assistant for the laboratory who shall be a person skilled in chemistry and bacteriology, and receive compensation as the director determines. All expenses of the laboratory shall be paid from appropriations made for the department of health.

(B) The public health council, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt, and may amend or rescind, rules establishing reasonable fees for services the laboratory performs. The council need not prescribe fees where the council believes that charging fees would significantly and adversely affect the public health. All fees collected for services the laboratory performs shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the “laboratory handling fee fund,” which is hereby created for the purpose of defraying expenses of operating the laboratory.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) As used in this section, “health care provider” means any person or government entity that provides health care services to individuals. “Health care provider” includes, but is not limited to, hospitals, medical clinics and offices, special care facilities, medical laboratories, physicians, pharmacists, dentists, physician assistants, registered and licensed practical nurses, laboratory technicians, emergency medical service organization personnel, and ambulance service organization personnel.

(B) Boards of health, health authorities or officials, health care providers in localities in which there are no health authorities or officials, and coroners or medical examiners shall report promptly to the department of health the existence of any of the following:

(1) Asiatic cholera;

(2) Yellow fever;

(3) Diphtheria;

(4) Typhus or typhoid fever;

(5) As specified by the public health council, other contagious or infectious diseases, illnesses, health conditions, or unusual infectious agents or biological toxins posing a risk of human fatality or disability.

(C) No person shall fail to comply with the reporting requirements established under division (B) of this section.

(D) The reports required by this section shall be submitted on forms, as required by statute or rule, and in the manner the director of health prescribes.

(E) Information reported under this section that is protected health information pursuant to section 3701.17 of the Revised Code shall be released only in accordance with that section. Information that does not identify an individual may be released in summary, statistical, or aggregate form.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

If a medical laboratory outside this state performs a test or other diagnostic or investigative analysis that results in information pertaining to a resident of this state that must be reported under section 3701.23 or 3707.06 of the Revised Code, the entity using the laboratory shall ensure that the laboratory complies with reporting and confidentiality requirements and shall verify to the director of health that the laboratory complies with reporting and confidentiality requirements. The director shall establish procedures by which an entity may verify the laboratory’s compliance.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Bioterrorism” means the intentional use of any microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of a microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product, to cause death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, animal, plant, or other living organism as a means of influencing the conduct of government or intimidating or coercing a population.

(2) “Pharmacist” means an individual licensed under Chapter 4729. of the Revised Code to engage in the practice of pharmacy as a pharmacist.

(3) “Pharmacy” and “prescription” have the same meanings as in section 4729.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) The public health council shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code under which a pharmacy or pharmacist is required to report significant changes in medication usage that may be caused by bioterrorism, epidemic or pandemic disease, or established or novel infectious agents or biological toxins posing a risk of human fatality or disability. Rules adopted under this section may require a report of any of the following:

(1) An unexpected increase in the number of prescriptions for antibiotics;

(2) An unexpected increase in the number of prescriptions for medication to treat fever or respiratory or gastrointestinal complaints;

(3) An unexpected increase in sales of, or the number of requests for information on, over-the-counter medication to treat fever or respiratory or gastrointestinal complaints;

(4) Any prescription for medication used to treat a disease that is relatively uncommon and may have been caused by bioterrorism.

(C) No person shall fail to comply with any reporting requirement established in rules adopted under division (B) of this section.

(D) Information reported under this section that is protected health information pursuant to section 3701.17 of the Revised Code shall be released only in accordance with that section. Information that does not identify an individual may be released in summary, statistical, or aggregate form.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) As used in this section and sections 3701.241 to 3701.249 of the Revised Code:

(1) “AIDS” means the illness designated as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

(2) “HIV” means the human immunodeficiency virus identified as the causative agent of AIDS.

(3) “AIDS-related condition” means symptoms of illness related to HIV infection, including AIDS-related complex, that are confirmed by a positive HIV test.

(4) “HIV test” means any test for the antibody or antigen to HIV that has been approved by the director of health under division (B) of section 3701.241 of the Revised Code.

(5) “Health care facility” has the same meaning as in section 1751.01 of the Revised Code.

(6) “Director” means the director of health or any employee of the department of health acting on the director’s behalf.

(7) “Physician” means a person who holds a current, valid certificate issued under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code authorizing the practice of medicine or surgery and osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(8) “Nurse” means a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse who holds a license or certificate issued under Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code.

(9) “Anonymous test” means an HIV test administered so that the individual to be tested can give informed consent to the test and receive the results by means of a code system that does not link the identity of the individual tested to the request for the test or the test results.

(10) “Confidential test” means an HIV test administered so that the identity of the individual tested is linked to the test but is held in confidence to the extent provided by sections 3701.24 to 3701.248 of the Revised Code.

(11) “Health care provider” means an individual who provides diagnostic, evaluative, or treatment services. Pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, the public health council may adopt rules further defining the scope of the term “health care provider.”

(12) “Significant exposure to body fluids” means a percutaneous or mucous membrane exposure of an individual to the blood, semen, vaginal secretions, or spinal, synovial, pleural, peritoneal, pericardial, or amniotic fluid of another individual.

(13) “Emergency medical services worker” means all of the following:

(a) A peace officer;

(b) An employee of an emergency medical service organization as defined in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code;

(c) A firefighter employed by a political subdivision;

(d) A volunteer firefighter, emergency operator, or rescue operator;

(e) An employee of a private organization that renders rescue services, emergency medical services, or emergency medical transportation to accident victims and persons suffering serious illness or injury.

(14) “Peace officer” has the same meaning as in division (A) of section 109.71 of the Revised Code, except that it also includes a sheriff and the superintendent and troopers of the state highway patrol.

(B) Persons designated by rule adopted by the public health council under section 3701.241 of the Revised Code shall report promptly every case of AIDS, every AIDS-related condition, and every confirmed positive HIV test to the department of health on forms and in a manner prescribed by the director. In each county the director shall designate the health commissioner of a health district in the county to receive the reports.

(C) No person shall fail to comply with the reporting requirements established under division (B) of this section.

(D) Information reported under this section that identifies an individual is confidential and may be released only with the written consent of the individual except as the director determines necessary to ensure the accuracy of the information, as necessary to provide treatment to the individual, as ordered by a court pursuant to section 3701.243 or 3701.247 of the Revised Code, or pursuant to a search warrant or a subpoena issued by or at the request of a grand jury, prosecuting attorney, city director of law or similar chief legal officer of a municipal corporation, or village solicitor, in connection with a criminal investigation or prosecution. Information that does not identify an individual may be released in summary, statistical, or aggregate form.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) The director of health shall develop and administer the following:

(1) A surveillance system to determine the number of cases of AIDS and the HIV infection rate in various population groups;

(2) Counseling and testing programs for groups determined by the director to be at risk of HIV infection, including procedures for both confidential and anonymous tests, counseling training programs for health care providers, and development of counseling guidelines;

(3) A confidential partner notification system to alert and counsel sexual contacts of individuals with HIV infection;

(4) Risk reduction and education programs for groups determined by the director to be at risk of HIV infection, and, in consultation with a wide range of community leaders, education programs for the public;

(5) Pilot programs for the long-term care of individuals with AIDS or AIDS-related condition, including care in nursing homes and in alternative settings;

(6) Programs to expand regional outpatient treatment of individuals with AIDS or AIDS-related condition;

(7) A program to assist communities, including communities of less than one hundred thousand population, in establishing AIDS task forces and support groups for individuals with AIDS, AIDS-related condition, and HIV infection. The program may include the award of grants if they are matched by local funds.

Information obtained or maintained under the partner notification system is not a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code and may be released only in accordance with division (C) of section 3701.243 of the Revised Code.

(B) The director shall:

(1) Approve a test or tests to be used to determine whether an individual has HIV infection, define a confirmed positive test result, and develop guidelines for interpreting test results;

(2) Establish sites for confidential and anonymous HIV tests, and prepare a list of sites where an individual may obtain an anonymous test;

(3) Prepare a list of counseling services;

(4) Make available a copy of the list of anonymous testing sites or a copy of the list of counseling services to anyone who requests it.

(C) The director of health shall require the director or administrator of each site where anonymous or confidential HIV tests are given to submit a report every three months evaluating from an epidemiologic perspective the effectiveness of the HIV testing program at that site. Not later than January 31, 1991, and each year thereafter, the director of health shall make a report evaluating the anonymous and confidential testing programs throughout the state with regard to their effectiveness as epidemiologic programs. The report shall be submitted to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate and shall be made available to the public.

The public health council shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for the implementation of the requirements of division (B)(1) of this section and division (D) of section 3701.24 of the Revised Code.

(D) The director of health shall administer funds received under Title XXVI of the “Public Health Services Act,” 104 Stat. 576 (1990), 42 U.S.C.A. 2601, as amended, for programs to improve the quality and availability of care for individuals with AIDS, AIDS-related condition, and HIV infection. In administering these funds, the director may enter into contracts with any person or entity for the purpose of administering the programs, including contracts with the department of job and family services for establishment of a program of reimbursement of drugs used for treatment and care of such individuals. The director of health may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code and issue orders as necessary for administration of the funds. If the department of job and family services enters into a contract under this division, the director of job and family services may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as necessary for carrying out the department’s duties under the contract.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) An HIV test may be performed by or on the order of a health care provider who, in the exercise of the provider’s professional judgment, determines the test to be necessary for providing diagnosis and treatment to the individual to be tested, if the individual or the individual’s parent or guardian has given consent to the provider for medical or other health care treatment. The health care provider shall inform the individual of the individual’s right under division (D) of this section to an anonymous test.

(B) A minor may consent to be given an HIV test. The consent is not subject to disaffirmance because of minority. The parents or guardian of a minor giving consent under this division are not liable for payment and shall not be charged for an HIV test given to the minor without the consent of a parent or the guardian.

(C) The health care provider ordering an HIV test shall provide post-test counseling for an individual who receives an HIV-positive test result. The public health council may adopt rules, pursuant to recommendations from the director of health and in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, specifying the information to be provided in post-test counseling.

(D) An individual shall have the right to an anonymous test. A health care facility or health care provider that does not provide anonymous testing shall refer an individual requesting an anonymous test to a site where it is available.

(E) Divisions (B) to (D) of this section do not apply to the performance of an HIV test in any of the following circumstances:

(1) When the test is performed in a medical emergency by a nurse or physician and the test results are medically necessary to avoid or minimize an immediate danger to the health or safety of the individual to be tested or another individual, except that post-test counseling shall be given to the individual if the individual receives an HIV-positive test result;

(2) When the test is performed for the purpose of research if the researcher does not know and cannot determine the identity of the individual tested;

(3) When the test is performed by a person who procures, processes, distributes, or uses a human body part from a deceased person donated for a purpose specified in Chapter 2108. of the Revised Code, if the test is medically necessary to ensure that the body part is acceptable for its intended purpose;

(4) When the test is performed on a person incarcerated in a correctional institution under the control of the department of rehabilitation and correction if the head of the institution has determined, based on good cause, that a test is necessary;

(5) When the test is performed in accordance with section 2907.27 of the Revised Code;

(6) When the test is performed on an individual after the infection control committee of a health care facility, or other body of a health care facility performing a similar function determines that a health care provider, emergency medical services worker, or peace officer, while rendering health or emergency care to an individual, has sustained a significant exposure to the body fluids of that individual, and the individual has refused to give consent for testing.

Amended by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 10-06-1994

(A) Except as provided in this section or section 3701.248 of the Revised Code, no person or agency of state or local government that acquires the information while providing any health care service or while in the employ of a health care facility or health care provider shall disclose or compel another to disclose any of the following:

(1) The identity of any individual on whom an HIV test is performed;

(2) The results of an HIV test in a form that identifies the individual tested;

(3) The identity of any individual diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition.

(B)(1) Except as provided in divisions (B)(2), (C), (D), and (F) of this section, the results of an HIV test or the identity of an individual on whom an HIV test is performed or who is diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition may be disclosed only to the following:

(a) The individual who was tested or the individual’s legal guardian, and the individual’s spouse or any sexual partner;

(b) A person to whom disclosure is authorized by a written release, executed by the individual tested or by the individual’s legal guardian and specifying to whom disclosure of the test results or diagnosis is authorized and the time period during which the release is to be effective;

(c) The individual’s physician;

(d) The department of health or a health commissioner to which reports are made under section 3701.24 of the Revised Code;

(e) A health care facility or provider that procures, processes, distributes, or uses a human body part from a deceased individual, donated for a purpose specified in Chapter 2108. of the Revised Code, and that needs medical information about the deceased individual to ensure that the body part is medically acceptable for its intended purpose;

(f) Health care facility staff committees or accreditation or oversight review organizations conducting program monitoring, program evaluation, or service reviews;

(g) A health care provider, emergency medical services worker, or peace officer who sustained a significant exposure to the body fluids of another individual, if that individual was tested pursuant to division (E)(6) of section 3701.242 of the Revised Code, except that the identity of the individual tested shall not be revealed;

(h) To law enforcement authorities pursuant to a search warrant or a subpoena issued by or at the request of a grand jury, a prosecuting attorney, a city director of law or similar chief legal officer of a municipal corporation, or a village solicitor, in connection with a criminal investigation or prosecution.

(2) The results of an HIV test or a diagnosis of AIDS or an AIDS-related condition may be disclosed to a health care provider, or an authorized agent or employee of a health care facility or a health care provider, if the provider, agent, or employee has a medical need to know the information and is participating in the diagnosis, care, or treatment of the individual on whom the test was performed or who has been diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition.

This division does not impose a standard of disclosure different from the standard for disclosure of all other specific information about a patient to health care providers and facilities. Disclosure may not be requested or made solely for the purpose of identifying an individual who has a positive HIV test result or has been diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition in order to refuse to treat the individual. Referral of an individual to another health care provider or facility based on reasonable professional judgment does not constitute refusal to treat the individual.

(3) Not later than ninety days after November 1, 1989, each health care facility in this state shall establish a protocol to be followed by employees and individuals affiliated with the facility in making disclosures authorized by division (B)(2) of this section. A person employed by or affiliated with a health care facility who determines in accordance with the protocol established by the facility that a disclosure is authorized by division (B)(2) of this section is immune from liability to any person in a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property resulting from the disclosure.

(C)(1) Any person or government agency may seek access to or authority to disclose the HIV test records of an individual in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) The person or government agency shall bring an action in a court of common pleas requesting disclosure of or authority to disclose the results of an HIV test of a specific individual, who shall be identified in the complaint by a pseudonym but whose name shall be communicated to the court confidentially, pursuant to a court order restricting the use of the name. The court shall provide the individual with notice and an opportunity to participate in the proceedings if the individual is not named as a party. Proceedings shall be conducted in chambers unless the individual agrees to a hearing in open court.

(b) The court may issue an order granting the plaintiff access to or authority to disclose the test results only if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the plaintiff has demonstrated a compelling need for disclosure of the information that cannot be accommodated by other means. In assessing compelling need, the court shall weigh the need for disclosure against the privacy right of the individual tested and against any disservice to the public interest that might result from the disclosure, such as discrimination against the individual or the deterrence of others from being tested.

(c) If the court issues an order, it shall guard against unauthorized disclosure by specifying the persons who may have access to the information, the purposes for which the information shall be used, and prohibitions against future disclosure.

(2) A person or government agency that considers it necessary to disclose the results of an HIV test of a specific individual in an action in which it is a party may seek authority for the disclosure by filing an in camera motion with the court in which the action is being heard. In hearing the motion, the court shall employ procedures for confidentiality similar to those specified in division (C)(1) of this section. The court shall grant the motion only if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that a compelling need for the disclosure has been demonstrated.

(3) Except for an order issued in a criminal prosecution or an order under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section granting disclosure of the result of an HIV test of a specific individual, a court shall not compel a blood bank, hospital blood center, or blood collection facility to disclose the result of HIV tests performed on the blood of voluntary donors in a way that reveals the identity of any donor.

(4) In a civil action in which the plaintiff seeks to recover damages from an individual defendant based on an allegation that the plaintiff contracted the HIV virus as a result of actions of the defendant, the prohibitions against disclosure in this section do not bar discovery of the results of any HIV test given to the defendant or any diagnosis that the defendant suffers from AIDS or an AIDS-related condition.

(D) The results of an HIV test or the identity of an individual on whom an HIV test is performed or who is diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition may be disclosed to a federal, state, or local government agency, or the official representative of such an agency, for purposes of the medical assistance program established under section 5111.01 of the Revised Code, the medicare program established under Title XVIII of the “Social Security Act,” 49 Stat. 620 (1935) 42 U.S.C.A. 301, as amended, or any other public assistance program.

(E) Any disclosure pursuant to this section shall be in writing and accompanied by a written statement that includes the following or substantially similar language: “This information has been disclosed to you from confidential records protected from disclosure by state law. You shall make no further disclosure of this information without the specific, written, and informed release of the individual to whom it pertains, or as otherwise permitted by state law. A general authorization for the release of medical or other information is not sufficient for the purpose of the release of HIV test results or diagnoses.”

(F) An individual who knows that the individual has received a positive result on an HIV test or has been diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition shall disclose this information to any other person with whom the individual intends to make common use of a hypodermic needle or engage in sexual conduct as defined in section 2907.01 of the Revised Code. An individual’s compliance with this division does not prohibit a prosecution of the individual for a violation of division (B) of section 2903.11 of the Revised Code.

(G) Nothing in this section prohibits the introduction of evidence concerning an HIV test of a specific individual in a criminal proceeding.

Effective Date: 03-23-2000

(A) As used in this section, “violation” means an occasion of noncompliance involving a single injured individual.

(B) A person or an agency of state or local government that knowingly violates division (A) of section 3701.242, division (A) of section 3701.243, or division (E) of section 3701.248 of the Revised Code may be found liable in a civil action; the action may be brought by any individual injured by the violation. Except as otherwise provided in division (C) or (D) of this section, the court may award compensatory damages and any equitable relief, including injunctive relief, it finds appropriate. If an award is made in favor of the plaintiff, the judge may award reasonable attorney’s fees to the plaintiff after a hearing to determine the amount of the fees.

(C) No person shall be held liable for damages or attorney’s fees in an action based on a violation of section 3701.243 of the Revised Code by his employee or agent unless the person knew or should have known of the violation.

(D) A person who acts in good faith in accordance with section 3701.242, 3701.243, or 3701.248 of the Revised Code is not liable for damages in a civil action brought pursuant to this section.

(E) A civil action under this section is barred unless the action is commenced within one year after the cause of action accrued. A cause of action does not survive the death of the individual injured by the violation unless a civil action based on the cause of action is commenced prior to the death of that individual.

(F) The remedies in this section are the exclusive civil remedies for an individual injured by noncompliance with section 3701.242, 3701.243, or division (E) of section 3701.248 of the Revised Code.

(G) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose civil liability on a person for the disclosure of an HIV test result, a diagnosed case of AIDS, or a diagnosed AIDS-related condition in accordance with a reporting requirement of the department of health or any federal agency.

(H) No person with knowledge that an individual other than himself has or may have AIDS, and AIDS-related condition, or a positive HIV test shall be held liable for failing to disclose that information to any person unless disclosure is expressly required by law.

Effective Date: 08-09-1990

(A) No state agency as defined in section 1.60 of the Revised Code, political subdivision, agency of local government, or private nonprofit corporation receiving state or local government funds shall refuse to admit as a patient, or to provide services to, any individual solely because he refuses to consent to an HIV test or to disclose HIV test results.

(B) The prohibition contained in division (A) of this section does not prevent a physician or a person licensed to practice dentistry under Chapter 4715. of the Revised Code from referring an individual he has reason to believe may have AIDS or an AIDS-related condition to an appropriate health care provider or facility, if the referral is based on reasonable professional judgment and not solely on grounds of the refusal of the individual to consent to an HIV test or to disclose the result of an HIV test.

Effective Date: 11-01-1989

Any human body part donated for transplantation, including an organ, tissue, eye, bone, artery, or other part, and any body fluid donated for transfusion or injection into another person, including blood, plasma, a blood product, semen, or other fluid, shall be given an HIV test before being transplanted, transfused, or injected to determine that the part or fluid is not infected with the HIV virus unless, in an emergency, the recipient of the donation or his guardian, after consultation with the recipient’s physician, consents to a waiver of this requirement.

Effective Date: 11-01-1989

(A)(1) Any of the following persons may bring an action in a probate court for an order compelling another person to undergo HIV testing:

(a) A person who believes the person may have been exposed to HIV infection while rendering health or emergency care to the other person;

(b) A peace officer who believes the peace officer may have been exposed to HIV infection while dealing with the other person in the performance of official duties.

(2) The complaint in the action shall be accompanied by an affidavit in which the plaintiff attests to all of the following:

(a) While rendering health or emergency care to the defendant, or while dealing with the defendant in the performance of the plaintiff’s duties, the plaintiff sustained a significant exposure to body fluids of the defendant that are known to transmit HIV;

(b) The plaintiff has reason to believe the defendant may have an HIV infection;

(c) The plaintiff made a reasonable attempt to have the defendant submit to HIV testing in accordance with section 3701.242 of the Revised Code, and notified the defendant that the plaintiff would bring an action under this section on the defendant’s refusal or failure to be tested, but the defendant has not been tested;

(d) Within seven days after the exposure, the plaintiff took an HIV test .

In the complaint, the defendant shall be identified by a pseudonym and the defendant’s name communicated to the court confidentially pursuant to a court order restricting the use of the name. Proceedings shall be conducted in chambers unless the defendant agrees to a hearing in open court.

(B) The court shall hold a hearing on the complaint at the earliest possible time but not later than the third business day after the day the defendant is served with the complaint and notice of the hearing. The court shall enter judgment on the complaint on the day the hearing is concluded.

(C) Notwithstanding division (A) of section 3701.242 of the Revised Code, the court may order the defendant to undergo HIV testing if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the plaintiff has proved the matters attested to in the plaintiff’s affidavit and has demonstrated that the plaintiff has a compelling need for the results of the test and no other means exist to accommodate the need. If granted, the order shall guard against unauthorized disclosure of the test results by specifying the persons and governmental entities that may have access to the results and by limiting further disclosure. The court shall require that the defendant be given test results and, if the defendant’s test results are HIV-positive, that post-test counseling be provided the defendant in accordance with division (C) of section 3701.242 of the Revised Code. The court may order the plaintiff to pay the cost of the defendant’s testing and counseling.

Amended by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 11-01-1989

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Contagious or infectious disease” means a disease specified by rule by the public health council pursuant to division (F) of this section.

(2) “Patient” means either of the following:

(a) A person, whether alive or dead, who has been treated, or handled, or transported for medical care by an emergency medical services worker;

(b) A deceased person whose body is handled by a funeral services worker.

(3) “Significant exposure” means:

(a) A percutaneous or mucous membrane exposure of an individual to the blood, semen, vaginal secretions, or spinal, synovial, pleural, peritoneal, pericardial, or amniotic fluid of another person;

(b) Exposure to a contagious or infectious disease.

(4) “Funeral services worker” means a person licensed as a funeral director or embalmer under Chapter 4717. of the Revised Code or an individual responsible for the direct final disposition of a deceased person.

(B)(1) An emergency medical services worker or funeral services worker who believes that significant exposure has occurred through the worker’s contact with a patient may submit to the health care facility or coroner that received the patient a written request to be notified of the results of any test performed on the patient to determine the presence of a contagious or infectious disease. The request shall include:

(a) The name, address, and telephone number of the individual submitting the request;

(b) The name of the individual’s employer, or, in the case of a volunteer emergency medical services worker, the entity for which the worker volunteers, and the individual’s supervisor;

(c) The date, time, location, and manner of the exposure.

(2) The request for notification that is submitted by an emergency medical services worker pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section is valid for ten days after it is made. If at the end of that ten-day period no test has been performed to determine the presence of a contagious or infectious disease, no diagnosis has been made, or the result of the test is negative, the health care facility or coroner shall notify the emergency medical services worker. The notification shall not include the name of the patient. If necessary, the request may be renewed in accordance with the same procedures and requirements as the original request.

(3) A health care facility or coroner shall respond immediately to a request for notification submitted pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section by a funeral services worker. If no test has been performed to determine the presence of a contagious or infectious disease, no diagnosis has been made, or the result of a test that was performed is negative, the health care facility or coroner shall immediately notify the funeral services worker. The notification shall not include the name of the patient.

On receipt of notification that no test has been performed to determine the presence of a contagious or infectious disease in a patient, the funeral services worker may have a test performed on the patient. The test shall be performed in accordance with rules adopted by the department of health pursuant to division (G) of this section.

The consent of the patient’s family is not required for performance of a test pursuant to division (B)(3) of this section.

(C) The health care facility or coroner that receives a written request for notification shall give an oral notification of the presence of a contagious or infectious disease, or of a confirmed positive test result, if known, to the person who made the request and the person’s supervisor and to the infection control committee or other body described in division (E)(6) of section 3701.242 of the Revised Code within two days after determining the presence of a contagious or infectious disease or after a confirmed positive test result. A written notification shall follow oral notification within three days. If a contagious or infectious disease is present, or the test results are confirmed positive, both the oral and written notification shall include the name of the disease, its signs and symptoms, the date of exposure, the incubation period, the mode of transmission of the disease, the medical precautions necessary to prevent transmission to other persons, and the appropriate prophylaxis, treatment, and counseling for the disease. The notification shall not include the name of the patient.

If the request is made by an emergency medical services worker and the information is not available from the health care facility to which the request is made because the patient has been transferred from that health care facility, the facility shall assist the emergency medical services worker in locating the patient and securing the requested information from the health care facility that treated or is treating the patient. If the patient has died, the health care facility shall give the emergency medical services worker the name and address of the coroner who received the patient.

(D) Each health care facility and coroner shall develop written procedures to implement the notification procedures required by this section. A health care facility or coroner may take measures in addition to those required in this section to notify emergency medical services workers and funeral services workers of possible exposure to a contagious or infectious disease as long as the confidentiality of the information is maintained.

(E) No person shall knowingly fail to comply with division (C) of this section.

(F) The public health council shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that specify the diseases that are reasonably likely to be transmitted by air or blood during the normal course of duties performed by an emergency medical services worker or funeral services worker. In adopting such rules, the council shall consider the types of contact that typically occur between patients and emergency medical services workers and funeral services workers.

(G) The department of health shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code specifying the procedures a funeral services worker must follow when having a test performed on a patient pursuant to division (B)(3) of this section. The rules shall specify how and by whom the test is to be performed. The rules shall require the funeral services worker or the funeral services worker’s employer to pay the cost of the test. No health care facility shall be required to perform the test.

Effective Date: 11-24-1995

(A) As used in this section, “employer” and “employee” have the same meanings as in section 4112.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) The employer of a person with HIV infection is immune from liability to any person in a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property on a claim arising out of transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus from the infected employee to another employee or to any other person, unless the transmission occurs as a result of the reckless conduct of the employer.

(C) An employer is immune from liability to an employee on a claim asserted under any provision of the Revised Code or in a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property if the claim arises from an illness or injury to the employee that is stress-related and results from the employee being required to work with an individual who has received a positive result on an HIV test or has been diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition.

Effective Date: 11-01-1989

Effective Date: 12-02-1996

(A) Every physician attending on or called in to visit a patient whom the physician believes to be suffering from poisoning from lead, cadmium, phosphorus, arsenic, brass, wood alcohol, mercury, or their compounds, or from compressed air illness and such other occupational diseases and ailments as the department of health shall require to be reported, shall within forty-eight hours from the time of first attending such patient send to the director of health a report stating:

(1) Name, address, and occupation of patient;

(2) Name, address, and business of employer;

(3) Nature of disease;

(4) Such other information as may be reasonably required by the department.

(B) No person shall fail to comply with the reporting requirements established under division (A) of this section.

(C) The reports required by this section shall be made on, or in conformity with, the standard schedule blanks provided for in section 3701.26 of the Revised Code. The mailing of the report, within the time required, in a stamped envelope addressed to the office of the director, shall be in compliance with this section.

(D) Such reports shall not be evidence of the facts therein stated in any action arising out of the disease therein reported.

(E) Information reported under this section that is protected health information pursuant to section 3701.17 of the Revised Code shall be released only in accordance with that section. Information that does not identify an individual may be released in summary, statistical, or aggregate form.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

The department of health shall prepare and furnish, free of cost, to the physicians included in section 3701.25 of the Revised Code and to persons required to report under section 3701.262 of the Revised Code, standard schedule blanks for the reports required under sections 3701.25 to 3701.27 of the Revised Code. The form and contents of such blanks shall be determined by the department.

Effective Date: 11-11-1991

(A) The director of health shall:

(1) Establish a population-based cancer registry, which shall be known as the Ohio cancer incidence surveillance system, to monitor the incidence of various types of malignant diseases in Ohio, make appropriate epidemiologic studies to determine any causal relations of such diseases with occupational, nutritional, environmental, or infectious conditions, and alleviate or eliminate any such conditions;

(2) Advise, consult, cooperate with, and assist, by contract or otherwise, agencies of the state and federal government, agencies of the governments of other states, agencies of political subdivisions of this state, universities, private organizations, corporations, and associations for the purposes of division (A)(1) of this section;

(3) Accept and administer grants from the federal government or other sources, public or private, for carrying out any of the functions enumerated in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section.

(B) The Ohio cancer incidence surveillance system shall follow a model of cancer data collection as set forth by the survey epidemiology and end results system (SEERS).

Effective Date: 09-29-1997

(A) As used in this section and section 3701.263 of the Revised Code:

(1) “Physician” means a person who holds a valid certificate issued under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code authorizing the person to practice medicine or surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(2) “Dentist” means a person who is licensed under Chapter 4715. of the Revised Code to practice dentistry.

(3) “Hospital” has the same meaning as in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code.

(4) “Cancer” includes those diseases specified by rule of the director of health under division (B)(2) of this section.

(B) The director of health shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to do all of the following:

(1) Establish the Ohio cancer incidence surveillance system required by section 3701.261 of the Revised Code;

(2) Specify the types of cancer and other tumorous and precancerous diseases to be reported to the department of health under division (D) of this section;

(3) Establish reporting requirements for information concerning diagnosed cancer cases as the director considers necessary to conduct epidemiologic surveys of cancer in this state;

(4) Establish standards that must be met by research projects to be eligible to receive information from the department of health under division (B) of section 3701.263 of the Revised Code.

(C) The department of health shall record in the registry all reports of cancer received by it. In the development and administration of the cancer registry the department may use information compiled by public or private cancer registries and may contract for the collection and analysis of, and research related to, the information recorded under this section.

(D) Each physician, dentist, hospital, or person providing diagnostic or treatment services to patients with cancer shall report each case of cancer to the department. Any person required to report pursuant to this section may elect to report to the department through an existing cancer registry if the registry meets the reporting standards established by the director and reports to the department.

(E) All physicians, dentists, hospitals, or persons providing diagnostic or treatment services to patients with cancer shall grant to the department or its authorized representative access to all records that identify cases of cancer or establish characteristics of cancer, the treatment of cancer, or the medical status of any identified cancer patient.

(F) The Arthur G. James and Richard J. Solove research institute of the Ohio state university, shall analyze and evaluate the cancer reports collected pursuant to this section. The department shall publish and make available to the public reports summarizing the information collected. Reports shall be made on a calendar year basis and published not later than ninety days after the end of each calendar year.

(G) Furnishing information, including records, reports, statements, notes, memoranda, or other information, to the department of health, either voluntarily or as required by this section, or to a person or governmental entity designated as a medical research project by the department, does not subject a physician, dentist, hospital, or person providing diagnostic or treatment services to patients with cancer to liability in an action for damages or other relief for furnishing the information.

(H) This section does not affect the authority of any person or facility providing diagnostic or treatment services to patients with cancer to maintain facility-based tumor registries, in addition to complying with the reporting requirements of this section.

(I) No person shall fail to make the cancer reports required by division (D) of this section.

Effective Date: 10-29-2003

(A) Any information, data, and reports with respect to a case of malignant disease which are furnished to, or procured by, any cancer registry in this state or the department of health shall be confidential and shall be used only for statistical, scientific, and medical research for the purpose of reducing the morbidity or mortality of malignant disease. No physician, dentist, person, or hospital furnishing such information, data, or report to any such cancer registry or the department of health, with respect to a case of malignant disease treated or examined by such physician, dentist, or person, or confined in such hospital, shall by reason of such furnishing be deemed to have violated any confidential relationship, or be held liable in damages to any person, or be held to answer for willful betrayal of a professional confidence within the meaning and intent of section 4731.22 of the Revised Code.

(B) The department of health shall prescribe a release of confidential information form for use under this division.

Information concerning individual cancer patients obtained by the department of health for the Ohio cancer incidence surveillance system is for the confidential use of the department only, except as follows:

(1) The department shall grant to a person involved in a medical research project that meets the standards established by the director of health under section 3701.262 of the Revised Code access to confidential information concerning individual cancer patients if all of the following conditions are met:

(a) The person conducting the research provides written information about the purpose of the research project, the nature of the data to be collected and how the researcher intends to analyze it, the records the researcher seeks to review, and the safeguards the researcher will take to protect the identity of patients whose records the researcher will be reviewing.

(b) In the view of the director of health, the proposed safeguards are adequate to protect the identity of each patient whose records will be reviewed.

(c) An agreement is executed between the department and the researcher that specifies the terms of the researcher’s use of the records and prohibits the publication or release of the names of individual cancer patients or any facts tending to lead to the identification of individual cancer patients.

(2) Notwithstanding division (B)(1) of this section, a researcher may, with the approval of the department, use the names of individual cancer patients when requesting additional information for research purposes or soliciting a patient’s participation in a research project. If a researcher requests additional information or a cancer patient’s participation in a research project, the researcher shall first obtain the oral or written consent of the patient’s attending physician. If the consent of the patient’s attending physician is obtained, the researcher shall obtain the patient’s written consent by having the patient complete a release of confidential information form.

(3) The department may release confidential information concerning individual cancer patients to physicians for diagnostic and treatment purposes if the patient’s attending physician gives oral or written consent to the release of the information and the patient gives written consent by completing a release of confidential information form.

(4) The department may release confidential information concerning individual cancer patients to the cancer registry of another state, if the other state has entered into a reciprocal agreement with the department and the agreement provides that the state will comply with this section and that information identifying a patient will not be released to any person without the written consent of the patient.

(C) Nothing in this section prevents the release to any person of epidemiological information that does not identify individual cancer patients.

(D) No person shall fail to comply with the confidentiality requirements of this section.

Effective Date: 11-11-1991

There is hereby created the Ohio cancer incidence surveillance system advisory board. The board shall consist of the director of health, who shall serve as chair of the board, and one representative, appointed by the governor, from each medical school accredited by the liaison committee on medical education and each osteopathic medical school accredited by the American osteopathic association in Ohio. In addition, the director of health shall appoint up to three additional members of the board. Vacancies on the board shall be filled in the same manner as the initial appointments. Members shall serve without compensation.

The board shall provide oversight of the collection and analysis of data by the cancer surveillance system to the director of health and the Arthur G. James cancer hospital and Richard J. Solove research institute of the Ohio state university and advise in the implementation of sections 3701.261 to 3701.263 of the Revised Code. The board shall meet and conduct its business as directed by the chair.

The board shall report to the finance committees of both houses of the general assembly, not later than March 1, 2001, on the progress made in implementing sections 3701.261 to 3701.263 of the Revised Code.

The board is not subject to sections 101.82 to 101.87 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-22-2001

The department of health shall transmit a copy of all reports of occupational disease, required to be filed by section 3701.25 of the Revised Code, to the administrator of workers’ compensation.

Effective Date: 10-29-1995

When a contagious or infectious disease becomes or threatens to become epidemic in a municipal corporation or township, and the local authorities neglect or refuse to enforce efficient measures for its prevention, the director of health may appoint a medical or sanitary officer and such assistants as he may require, and authorize him to enforce such orders or regulations as the director deems necessary.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The department of health shall make provision for annual conferences of district health commissioners for the consideration of the cause and prevention of dangerous communicable diseases and other measures to protect and improve the public health. Each board of health or other body or person appointed or acting in place of a board of health shall appoint its health commissioner or health officer a delegate to such conferences. The district board of health shall pay the necessary expenses of such delegate upon presentation of a certificate from the director of health that the delegate attended the sessions of such conferences.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The department of health may devise a suitable program for establishing a blood bank for civilian use, embracing if necessary, methods for the registration of blood donors, for the collection of blood from donors, for the processing or procurement of blood plasma or other substitutes for whole blood, and for the distribution of pool blood, blood plasma, or other blood substitutes to meet civilian needs, to communities of the state where such are not readily available.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

In formulating and administering the blood bank program, the department of health may establish necessary standards, promulgate necessary rules and regulations, utilize the facilities and services of other official agencies and of voluntary organizations which may be made available to the department, and co-operate, if requested, with agencies and organizations engaged in a similar program on a local or state basis.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Suitable rooms for conducting the business of the department of health shall be provided and maintained by the state.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The public health council shall consist of the following seven members to be appointed by the governor:

(A) Three physicians who are licensed to practice medicine in the state;

(B) A pharmacist who is licensed to practice pharmacy in the state;

(C) A registered nurse who is licensed to practice nursing as a registered nurse in the state;

(D) A sanitarian who holds a valid certificate of registration as a sanitarian issued under section 4736.11 of the Revised Code;

(E) A member of the public who is not associated with or financially interested in the practice of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, or environmental health and is at least sixty years of age.

Terms of office shall be for seven years, commencing on the first day of July and ending on the thirtieth day of June. Each member shall hold office from the date of appointment until the end of the term for which the member was appointed. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which the member’s predecessor was appointed shall hold office for the remainder of such term. Any member shall continue in office subsequent to the expiration date of the member’s term until the member’s successor takes office, or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first.

The council shall meet four times each year and may meet at such other times as the business of the council requires. The time and place for holding regular meetings shall be fixed in the bylaws of the council. Special meetings may be called upon the request of any four members of the council or upon request of the director of health, and may be held at any place considered advisable by the council or director. Four members of the council constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The council, on or before the first day of July of each year, shall designate the member who shall act as its chairperson for the ensuing year. The director, upon request of the council, shall detail an officer or employee of the department of health to act as secretary of the council, and shall detail such other employees as the council requires.

The members of the council shall be paid the rate established pursuant to division (J) of section 124.15 of the Revised Code while in conference and shall be reimbursed their necessary and reasonable traveling and other expenses incurred in the performance of their regular duties.

Effective Date: 07-22-1998

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

The amendment to this section by 129th General Assembly File No. 10, SB 5, § 1 was rejected by voters in the November, 2011 election.

(A) The public health council shall:

(1) Adopt, and may amend or rescind, rules to be of general application throughout the state;

(2) Conduct hearings in cases where the law requires that the department shall give such hearings and reach decisions on the evidence presented, which shall govern subsequent actions of the director with reference thereto;

(3) Prescribe by rule the number and functions of divisions and bureaus and the qualifications of chiefs or divisions and bureaus within the department;

(4) Enact and amend bylaws in relation to its meetings and the transaction of its business;

(5) Consider any matter relating to the preservation and improvement of the public health and advise the director thereon with such recommendations as it considers wise.

(B) The council shall neither have nor exercise executive or administrative duties.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

(A) The public health council, pursuant to Chapter 119. and consistent with section 2317.56 of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules relating to abortions and the following subjects:

(1) Post-abortion procedures to protect the health of the pregnant woman;

(2) Pathological reports;

(3) Humane disposition of the product of human conception;

(4) Counseling.

(B) The director of health shall implement the rules and shall apply to the court of common pleas for temporary or permanent injunctions restraining a violation or threatened violation of the rules. This action is an additional remedy not dependent on the adequacy of the remedy at law.

Effective Date: 05-28-1992; 03-30-2006

After consultation with the public health standards task force established under section 3701.343 of the Revised Code, the public health council shall adopt rules establishing minimum standards and optimum achievable standards for boards of health and local health departments. The minimum standards shall assure that boards of health and local health departments provide for:

(A) Analysis and prevention of communicable disease;

(B) Analysis of the causes of, and appropriate treatment for, the leading causes of morbidity and mortality;

(C) The administration and management of the local health department;

(D) Access to primary health care by medically underserved individuals;

(E) Environmental health management programs;

(F) Health promotion services designed to encourage individual and community wellness.

The public health council shall adopt rules establishing a formula for distribution of state health district subsidy funds to boards of health and local health departments. The formula shall provide no subsidy funds to a board or department unless it meets minimum standards and shall provide higher funding levels for boards and districts that meet optimum achievable standards.

Notwithstanding section 119.03 of the Revised Code, rules adopted under this section shall not take effect unless approved by concurrent resolution of the general assembly.

Effective Date: 11-15-1981

The chairman of the public health council shall, with the advice of the association of Ohio health commissioners and the director of health, appoint a public health standards task force to assist and advise the public health council in formulating and evaluating the standards established under section 3701.342 of the Revised Code for the provision of public health services. The task force shall recommend its standards for all categories mentioned in section 3701.342 of the Revised Code on or before March 1, 1983.

The task force shall have nine members, consisting of:

(A) A sanitarian registered in accordance with Chapter 4736. of the Revised Code;

(B) A registered nurse licensed in accordance with Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code;

(C) A physician licensed in accordance with Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code;

(D) Three health commissioners;

(E) Two representatives of the department of health;

(F) One individual with recognized ability in public health law, public health laboratories, epidemiology, nutrition, or health education.

The public health standards task force shall complete its work within three years after the effective date of this section and shall cease to exist upon completion of its work, provided, that the public health council may reconstitute the public health standards task force, for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating, and revising the standards mandated in section 3701.342 of the Revised Code.

Members of the task force shall elect a chairman. Five members of the task force constitute a quorum and six votes are necessary to validate an action.

Within ninety days of the effective date of this section, the chairman of the public health council shall make the appointments to the task force. Within sixty days of their appointment, the task force members shall meet, organize, and begin their work. Vacancies occurring on the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the initial appointments.

Members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses.

Effective Date: 11-15-1981

As used in this section and sections 3701.345, 3701.346, and 3701.347 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Private water system” means any water system for the provision of water for human consumption, if such system has fewer than fifteen service connections and does not regularly serve an average of at least twenty-five individuals daily at least sixty days out of the year. A private water system includes any well, spring, cistern, pond, or hauled water and any equipment for the collection, transportation, filtration, disinfection, treatment, or storage of such water extending from and including the source of the water to the point of discharge from any pressure tank or other storage vessel; to the point of discharge from the water pump where no pressure tank or other storage vessel is present; or, in the case of multiple service connections serving more than one dwelling, to the point of discharge from each service connection. “Private water system” does not include the water service line extending from the point of discharge to a structure.

(B) Notwithstanding section 3701.347 of the Revised Code and subject to division (C) of this section, rules adopted by the public health council regarding private water systems shall provide for the following:

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this division, boards of health of city or general health districts shall be given the exclusive power to establish fees in accordance with section 3709.09 of the Revised Code for administering and enforcing such rules. Such fees shall establish a different rate for administering and enforcing the rules relative to private water systems serving single-family dwelling houses and nonsingle-family dwelling houses. Except for an amount established by the public health council, pursuant to division (B)(5) of this section, for each new private water system installation, no portion of any fee for administering and enforcing such rules shall be returned to the department of health. If the director of health determines that a board of health of a city or general health district is unable to administer and enforce a private water system program in the district, the director shall administer and enforce such a program in the district and establish fees for such administration and enforcement.

(2) Boards of health of city or general health districts shall be given the exclusive power to determine the number of inspections necessary for determining the safe drinking characteristics of a private water system.

(3) Private water systems contractors, as a condition of doing business in this state, shall annually register with, and comply with surety bonding requirements of, the department of health. No such contractor shall be permitted to register if the contractor fails to comply with all applicable rules adopted by the public health council and the board of health of the city or general health district. The annual registration fee for private water systems contractors shall be sixty-five dollars. The public health council, by rule adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, may increase the annual registration fee. Before January 1, 1993, the fee shall not be increased by more than fifty per cent of the amount prescribed by this section.

(4) Boards of health of city or general health districts subject to such rules of the public health council shall have the option of determining whether bacteriological examinations shall be performed at approved laboratories of the state or at approved private laboratories.

(5) The public health council may establish fees for each new private water system installation, which shall be collected by the appropriate board of health and transmitted to the director of health pursuant to section 3709.092 of the Revised Code.

(6) All fees received by the director of health under divisions (B)(1), (3), and (5) of this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the general operations fund created in section 3701.83 of the Revised Code for use in the administration and enforcement of sections 3701.344 to 3701.347 of the Revised Code and the rules pertaining to private water systems adopted under those sections or section 3701.34 of the Revised Code.

(C) To the extent that rules adopted under division (B) of this section require health districts to follow specific procedures or use prescribed forms, no such procedure or form shall be implemented until it is approved by majority vote of an approval board of health commissioners, hereby created. Members of the board shall be the officers of the association of Ohio health commissioners, or any successor organization, and membership on the board shall be coterminous with holding an office of the association. No health district is required to follow a procedure or use a form required by a rule adopted under division (B) of this section without the approval of the board.

(D)A board of health shall collect well log filing fees on behalf of the division of soil and water resources in the department of natural resources in accordance with section 1521.05 of the Revised Code and rules adopted under it. The fees shall be submitted to the division quarterly as provided in those rules.

Amended by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 07-26-1991

Any applicant for a permit to construct, develop, install, or modify a private water system required by rules adopted by the public health council under sections 3701.34 and 3701.347 of the Revised Code may apply to the board of health of the city or general health district administering and enforcing the private water supply program in the health district in which the private water system is or is to be located or, if the health district is not administering and enforcing the program, may apply to the department of health for a variance from such rules governing the design, construction, development, installation, or modification of private water systems. The application for a variance shall be made in writing and shall include a statement of the particular rule or rules from which a variance is sought, a description of the proposed system or modification, and the necessity for the variance. The board of health or the department of health shall not grant a variance unless the applicant demonstrates that:

(A) There will be an unusual and unnecessary hardship in complying with the rules from which the variance is sought;

(B) Contamination of the private water system will not occur as a result of construction and operation of the system as proposed by the variance application;

(C) The health of persons using water from the private water system will not be endangered as a result of construction and operation of the system as proposed by the variance application; and

(D) No other technically feasible and economically reasonable means exists for obtaining water from the proposed type of water source.

Effective Date: 06-22-1984

There is hereby created within the department of health the private water systems advisory council. The council shall have nine members, who shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. The council shall consist of a pump installer or licensed plumber, a well driller, a cable tool well driller, a general contractor with experience in private water systems other than wells, a registered sanitarian, a health commissioner of a city or general health district, two employees of the department of health, and a person who is not employed by the state or any of its political subdivisions and who has no pecuniary interest in private water systems. Terms of office shall be for two years. Each member shall hold office from the date of his appointment until the end of the term for which the member was appointed. In the event of death, removal, resignation, or incapacity of a member of the council, the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint a successor who shall hold office for the remainder of the term for which the successor’s predecessor was appointed. A member shall continue in office subsequent to the expiration date of the member’s term until the member’s successor takes office, or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first.

The council shall meet at the behest of the director of health. The council shall annually select from among its members a chairperson, vice-chairperson, and a secretary to keep a record of its proceedings.

The governor may at any time remove a member of the council for misfeasance, nonfeasance, or malfeasance in office.

A majority vote of the members of the council is necessary to take action in any matter.

A member of the council shall serve without compensation.

The council shall:

(A) Advise the director regarding the revocation or nonrenewal of the registration of a private water systems contractor;

(B) Make recommendations to the director regarding the amount of surety bond required of private water systems contractors.

Effective Date: 12-02-1996

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

Notwithstanding division (E) of section 6111.42 of the Revised Code, rules adopted under such division and in effect on December 14, 1978 shall continue in effect until repealed by the environmental protection agency or superseded by rules of the public health council as hereinafter provided, as fully as if such section had not been amended by Amended Substitute Senate Bill No. 445 of the 112th general assembly on such date. Insofar as these rules affect wells for the provision of water for human consumption not used or for use by a public water system, they shall remain in effect notwithstanding repeal by the environmental protection agency until the public health council adopts rules superseding them which prescribe uniform standards and procedures for the design, construction, inspection, installation, development, maintenance, and abandonment of private water systems, to protect the health of the persons served by such water systems and to establish fees at a level calculated to pay the cost of administering and enforcing such rules by the director of health or by boards of health of city and general health districts approved by the director of health. For purposes of this section “public water system” has the meaning ascribed to it in section 6109.01 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-22-1984

Every rule the public health council adopts shall state the date on which it takes effect, and a copy thereof, signed by the secretary of the council, shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state, and a copy thereof shall be sent by the director of health to each board of health of a general or a city health district, health officer, or person performing the duties of health officer, within the state, and shall be published in such manner as the council may determine. Every provision of the council’s rules shall apply to and be effective in all portions of the state.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) The governing body of every hospital shall set standards and procedures to be applied by the hospital and its medical staff in considering and acting upon applications for staff membership or professional privileges. These standards and procedures shall be available for public inspection.

(B) The governing body of any hospital, in considering and acting upon applications for staff membership or professional privileges within the scope of the applicants’ respective licensures, shall not discriminate against a qualified person solely on the basis of whether that person is certified to practice medicine, osteopathic medicine, or podiatry, or licensed to practice dentistry or psychology. Staff membership or professional privileges shall be considered and acted on in accordance with standards and procedures established under division (A) of this section. This section does not permit a psychologist to admit a patient to a hospital in violation of section 3727.06 of the Revised Code.

(C) The governing body of any hospital that is licensed to provide maternity services, in considering and acting upon applications for clinical privileges, shall not discriminate against a qualified person solely on the basis that the person is authorized to practice nurse-midwifery. An application from a certified nurse-midwife who is not employed by the hospital shall contain the name of a physician member of the hospital’s medical staff who holds clinical privileges in obstetrics at that hospital and who has agreed to be the collaborating physician for the applicant in accordance with section 4723.43 of the Revised Code.

(D) Any person may apply to the court of common pleas for temporary or permanent injunctions restraining a violation of division (A), (B), or (C) of this section. This action is an additional remedy not dependent on the adequacy of the remedy at law.

(E)(1) If a hospital does not provide or permit the provision of any diagnostic or treatment service for mental or emotional disorders or any other service that may be legally performed by a psychologist licensed under Chapter 4732. of the Revised Code, this section does not require the hospital to provide or permit the provision of any such service and the hospital shall be exempt from requirements of this section pertaining to psychologists.

(2) This section does not impair the right of a hospital to enter into an employment, personal service, or any other kind of contract with a licensed psychologist, upon any such terms as the parties may mutually agree, for the provision of any service that may be legally performed by a licensed psychologist.

Effective Date: 09-10-1996

No person shall violate any rule the public health council, director of health, or department of health adopts or any order the director or department of health issues under this chapter to prevent a threat to the public caused by a pandemic, epidemic, or bioterrorism event.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

Effective Date: 12-02-1996

The state construction and modernization program shall provide, in accordance with regulations prescribed under the federal act, for adequate hospital and medical facilities for the people residing in this state and insofar as possible shall provide for their distribution throughout the state in such manner as to make all types of hospital and medical facilities service reasonably accessible to all persons.

Effective Date: 09-24-1971

The director of health may make application to the surgeon general for federal funds to assist in carrying out the survey and planning activities provided in sections 3701.01, 3701.04, 3701.08, 3701.09, and 3701.37 to 3701.45 of the Revised Code. Such funds shall be deposited in the state treasury and shall be available to the director for expenditure for carrying out such sections. Any such funds received and not expended for such purposes shall be repaid to the treasury of the United States.

Effective Date: 12-02-1996

The director of health shall prepare and submit to the surgeon general a state plan which shall include the hospital and medical facilities construction and modernization program developed under sections 3701.01, 3701.04, 3701.08, 3701.09, and 3701.37 to 3701.45 of the Revised Code, and which shall provide for the establishment, administration, and operation of hospital and medical facilities construction and modernization activities in accordance with the requirements of the federal act and regulations thereunder. The director shall, prior to the submission of such plan to the surgeon general, give adequate publicity to a general description of all the provisions proposed to be included therein and hold a public hearing at which all persons or organizations with a legitimate interest in such a plan may be given an opportunity to express their views. After approval of the plan by the surgeon general, the director shall make public a general description of the provisions thereof and shall make the plan or a copy thereof available upon request to all interested persons or organizations. The director shall review the hospital and medical facilities construction and modernization program and submit to the surgeon general any modifications thereof which the director finds necessary and may submit to the surgeon general such modifications of the state plan not inconsistent with the requirements of the federal act as are advisable.

Effective Date: 12-02-1996

The public health council shall by rule prescribe minimum standards for the maintenance and operation of hospitals and medical facilities which shall receive federal aid for construction under the state plan provided for by section 3701.39 of the Revised Code.

Boards of trustees or directors of institutions required to comply with sections 3701.01, 3701.04, 3701.08, 3701.09, and 3701.37 to 3701.45 of the Revised Code shall have the right to select the professional staff members of such institutions and to select and employ interns, nurses, and other personnel, and no rules, regulations, or standards of the director of health or the public health council adopted or promulgated severally or jointly shall be valid which, if enforced, would interfere in such selection or employment.

The director of health may petition the common pleas court of the county in which any hospital or medical facility is located for an order enjoining any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other entity, private or public, from operating a hospital or medical facility in violation of any rules adopted under this section. Irrespective of any other remedy the director may have in law or equity the court has jurisdiction to grant such injunctive relief upon a showing that the respondent named in the petition is operating in violation of such rules.

Effective Date: 12-02-1996

The state plan provided for by section 3701.39 of the Revised Code shall set forth the relative need for the several projects included in the construction and modernization program determined in accordance with regulations prescribed pursuant to the federal act and provide for the construction or modernization, insofar as financial resources are available therefor and maintenance and operations make possible, in the order of such relative need.

Effective Date: 09-24-1971

Applications for grants, loans, or loan guarantees under the federal act for hospital and medical facilities construction or modernization projects shall be submitted to the director of health and may be submitted by the state or any political subdivision thereof or by any other public or nonprofit agency eligible under the federal act. Each application for a construction or modernization project shall conform to federal and state requirements.

Effective Date: 09-24-1971

The director of health shall afford to every applicant for a construction project an opportunity for a fair hearing. If the director, after affording reasonable opportunity for development and presentation of applications in the order of relative need, finds that a project application complies with section 3701.42 of the Revised Code and is otherwise in conformity with the state plan provided for in section 3701.39 of the Revised Code, he shall approve such application and shall recommend and forward it to the surgeon general.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The director of health shall inspect each construction project approved by the surgeon general and, if the inspection so warrants, the director shall certify to the surgeon general that work has been performed upon the project or purchases have been made in accordance with the approved plans and specifications and that payment of an installment of federal funds is due to the applicant.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The director of health may receive federal grant funds in behalf of, and transmit them to, applicants for hospital and medical facilities construction and modernization projects. There is hereby established, separate and apart from all public moneys and funds of this state, a hospital and medical facilities construction fund. Grant moneys received from the federal government for a project approved by the surgeon general shall be deposited to the credit of this fund and shall be used solely for payments due applicants for work performed or purchases made in carrying out approved projects. Vouchers for all payments from the hospital and medical facilities construction fund shall bear the signature of the director or his authorized agent for such purpose.

Effective Date: 09-24-1971

In reporting every birth and fetal death, physicians and others required to make the reports shall state on the birth or fetal death certificate, as the case may be, whether approved tests for syphilis and gonorrhea have been made in an approved laboratory upon specimens taken from the woman who bore the child for which the certificate is filed, and the approximate date when the specimens were taken. If the tests were not made, the physician or other person shall state the reasons why the tests were not made. In no event shall the results of the tests be stated on the birth or fetal death certificate.

Effective Date: 03-16-1989

As used in sections 3701.46 to 3701.50 of the Revised Code, the standard tests for syphilis and gonorrhea are tests approved by the department of health, and shall be made at a laboratory approved to make such tests by the department. Such tests as are required shall, on request of the physician submitting the specimens, be made without charge by the department.

Effective Date: 12-19-1973

The approved laboratory making the standard tests for syphilis and gonorrhea shall make a report to the physician or health commissioner submitting the specimens. Such laboratory shall forthwith report any reactive syphilis test or positive gonorrhea test to the department of health on forms prescribed and furnished by the director of health.

Effective Date: 12-19-1973

If any pregnant woman is attended during the period of gestation by any person authorized to attend pregnant women, other than a licensed physician, but who is not permitted to take test specimens, then such authorized person shall notify immediately the health commissioner of the city or general health district of the residence of such pregnant woman. The health commissioner shall cause the test specimens to be taken of such pregnant woman for the purpose of the standard syphilis and gonorrhea tests. Such taking of specimens is subject to section 3701.50 of the Revised Code relating to the condition of the pregnant woman.

Effective Date: 12-19-1973

Every physician who attends any pregnant woman for conditions relating to pregnancy during the period of gestation shall take specimens of such woman at the time of first examination or within ten days thereof, and shall submit such specimens to an approved laboratory for standard syphilis and gonorrhea tests. If, in the opinion of the physician attending such woman, her condition does not permit the taking of specimens for submission to an approved laboratory, then no specimens shall be taken prior to delivery. If no specimens are taken prior to delivery because of the woman’s condition, then such specimens shall be taken as soon after delivery as the physician deems it advisable.

The health commissioner of the city or general health district, wherein any person required to be tested for syphilis and gonorrhea under this section or section 3701.49 of the Revised Code resides, may waive the requirements of such sections if the commissioner is satisfied by written affidavit or other written proof that the tests required are contrary to the tenets or practices of the religious creed of which the person is an adherent, and that the public health and welfare would not be injuriously affected by such waiver.

Effective Date: 12-19-1973

(A)(1) Except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section, all newborn children shall be screened for the presence of the genetic, endocrine, and metabolic disorders specified in rules, adopted pursuant to this section.

(2) Division (A)(1) of this section does not apply if the parents of the child object thereto on the grounds that the screening conflicts with their religious tenets and practices.

(B) There is hereby created the newborn screening advisory council to advise the director of health regarding the screening of newborn children for genetic, endocrine, and metabolic disorders. The council shall engage in an ongoing review of the newborn screening requirements established under this section and shall provide recommendations and reports to the director as the director requests and as the council considers necessary. The director may assign other duties to the council, as the director considers appropriate.

The council shall consist of fourteen members appointed by the director. In making appointments, the director shall select individuals and representatives of entities with interest and expertise in newborn screening, including such individuals and entities as health care professionals, hospitals, children’s hospitals, regional genetic centers, regional sickle cell centers, newborn screening coordinators, and members of the public.

The department of health shall provide meeting space, staff services, and other technical assistance required by the council in carrying out its duties. Members of the council shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in attending meetings of the council or performing assignments for the council.

The council is not subject to sections 101.82 to 101.87 of the Revised Code.

(C)(1) The director of health shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code specifying the disorders for which each newborn child must be screened.

(2) The newborn screening advisory council shall evaluate genetic, metabolic, and endocrine disorders to assist the director in determining which disorders should be included in the screenings required under this section. In determining whether a disorder should be included, the council shall consider all of the following:

(a) The disorder’s incidence, mortality, and morbidity;

(b) Whether the disorder causes disability if diagnosis, treatment, and early intervention are delayed;

(c) The potential for successful treatment of the disorder;

(d) The expected benefits to children and society in relation to the risks and costs associated with screening for the disorder;

(e) Whether a screening for the disorder can be conducted without taking an additional blood sample or specimen.

(3) Based on the considerations specified in division (C)(2) of this section, the council shall make recommendations to the director of health for the adoption of rules under division (C)(1) of this section. The director shall promptly and thoroughly review each recommendation the council submits.

(D) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing standards and procedures for the screenings required by this section. The rules shall include standards and procedures for all of the following:

(1) Causing rescreenings to be performed when initial screenings have abnormal results;

(2) Designating the person or persons who will be responsible for causing screenings and rescreenings to be performed;

(3) Giving to the parents of a child notice of the required initial screening and the possibility that rescreenings may be necessary;

(4) Communicating to the parents of a child the results of the child’s screening and any rescreenings that are performed;

(5) Giving notice of the results of an initial screening and any rescreenings to the person who caused the child to be screened or rescreened, or to another person or government entity when the person who caused the child to be screened or rescreened cannot be contacted;

(6) Referring children who receive abnormal screening or rescreening results to providers of follow-up services, including the services made available through funds disbursed under division (F) of this section.

(E)(1) Except as provided in divisions (E)(2) and (3) of this section, all newborn screenings required by this section shall be performed by the public health laboratory authorized under section 3701.22 of the Revised Code.

(2) If the director determines that the public health laboratory is unable to perform screenings for all of the disorders specified in the rules adopted under division (C) of this section, the director shall select another laboratory to perform the screenings. The director shall select the laboratory by issuing a request for proposals. The director may accept proposals submitted by laboratories located outside this state. At the conclusion of the selection process, the director shall enter into a written contract with the selected laboratory. If the director determines that the laboratory is not complying with the terms of the contract, the director shall immediately terminate the contract and another laboratory shall be selected and contracted with in the same manner.

(3) Any rescreening caused to be performed pursuant to this section may be performed by the public health laboratory or one or more other laboratories designated by the director. Any laboratory the director considers qualified to perform rescreenings may be designated, including a laboratory located outside this state. If more than one laboratory is designated, the person responsible for causing a rescreening to be performed is also responsible for selecting the laboratory to be used.

(F)(1) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing a fee that shall be charged and collected in addition to or in conjunction with any laboratory fee that is charged and collected for performing the screenings required by this section. The fee, which shall be not less than fourteen dollars, shall be disbursed as follows:

(a) Not less than ten dollars and twenty-five cents shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the genetics services fund, which is hereby created. Not less than seven dollars and twenty-five cents of each fee credited to the genetics services fund shall be used to defray the costs of the programs authorized by section 3701.502 of the Revised Code. Not less than three dollars from each fee credited to the genetics services fund shall be used to defray costs of phenylketonuria programs.

(b) Not less than three dollars and seventy-five cents shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the sickle cell fund, which is hereby created. Money credited to the sickle cell fund shall be used to defray costs of programs authorized by section 3701.131 of the Revised Code.

(2) In adopting rules under division (F)(1) of this section, the director shall not establish a fee that differs according to whether a screening is performed by the public health laboratory or by another laboratory selected by the director pursuant to division (E)(2) of this section.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

The director of health shall do all of the following:

(A) Encourage and assist in the development of programs of education, detection, and treatment of genetic diseases and provide for habilitation, rehabilitation, and counseling of persons possessing a genetic trait of, or afflicted with, genetic disease;

(B) Advise, consult, cooperate with, and assist, by contract or otherwise, agencies of this state and the federal government, agencies of the governments of other states, agencies of political subdivisions of this state, and private organizations, corporations, and associations in the development and promotion of programs pertaining to the causes, detection, and treatment of genetic diseases, habilitation, rehabilitation, and counseling of persons possessing the trait of or afflicted with genetic disease;

(C) Accept and administer grants from the federal government or other sources, public or private, for carrying out any of the functions enumerated in divisions (A) and (B) of this section. All such moneys so received shall be deposited by the director in the state treasury and shall be kept in a separate fund by the treasurer of state. Except as otherwise provided in section 3701.45 of the Revised Code, payments from the fund shall be made pursuant to vouchers approved by the director.

Effective Date: 09-29-1997

As used in sections 3701.504 to 3701.509 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Parent” means either parent, unless the parents are separated or divorced or their marriage has been dissolved or annulled, in which case “parent” means the parent who is the residential parent and legal custodian.

(B) “Guardian” has the same meaning as in section 2111.01 of the Revised Code.

(C) “Custodian” means, except as used in division (A) of this section, a government agency or an individual, other than the parent or guardian, with legal or permanent custody of a child as defined in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code.

(D) “Hearing screening” means the identification of newborns and infants who may have a hearing impairment, through the use of a physiologic test.

(E) “Hearing evaluation” means evaluation through the use of audiological procedures by an audiologist or physician.

(F) “Hearing impairment” means a loss of hearing in one or both ears in the frequency region important for speech recognition and comprehension.

(G) “Newborn” means a child who is less than thirty days old.

(H) “Infant” means a child who is at least thirty days but less than twenty-four months old.

(I) “Freestanding birthing center” has the same meaning as in section 3702.51 of the Revised Code.

(J) “Physician” means an individual authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(K) “Audiologist” means an individual authorized under section 4753.07 of the Revised Code to practice audiology.

(L) “Hospital” means a hospital that has a maternity unit or newborn nursery.

(M) “Maternity unit” means any unit or place in a hospital where women are regularly received and provided care during all or part of the maternity cycle, except that “maternity unit” does not include an emergency department or similar place dedicated to providing emergency health care.

(N) “Board of health” means the board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having the duties of a board of health under section 3709.05 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 08-01-2002

(A) The department of health shall establish and maintain a statewide hearing screening, tracking, and early intervention program to identify newborn and infant hearing impairment. The department shall also establish appropriate protocols for the treatment and follow-up care of newborns and infants with hearing impairment.

(B) In the case of a child born in a hospital or freestanding birthing center, both of the following apply:

(1) The program shall provide for a hearing screening of the newborn or infant before discharge, unless the newborn or infant is being transferred to another hospital.

(2) If the newborn or infant is transferred to another hospital, the program shall provide for a hearing screening of the newborn or infant when determined to be medically appropriate.

(C) The department of health shall ensure that the program established under this section is incorporated into early intervention activities of the department in compliance with the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,” 20 U.S.C.A. 1400 et seq.

(D) The department of health may assist hospitals and freestanding birthing centers in acquiring hearing screening equipment by providing information on grant opportunities or loans, and, if funds are available, by mass purchasing equipment or establishing a grant system with department funds.

(E) The department of health shall administer the program established under this section pursuant to rules adopted under section 3701.508 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 08-01-2002

(A)(1) Each hospital and each freestanding birthing center shall do all of the following:

(a) Conduct a hearing screening on each newborn or infant born in the hospital or center unless the newborn or infant is transferred to another hospital;

(b) Promptly notify the newborn’s or infant’s attending physician of the screening results;

(c) Notify the department of health of the screening results for each newborn or infant screened.

(2) A hearing screening conducted under this section shall be conducted under the direction of an audiologist or physician or in collaboration with a physician. Notwithstanding the licensure requirements of Chapter 4753. of the Revised Code, a screening may be conducted by a person who is not licensed under that chapter.

(3) Each hospital and freestanding birthing center shall take the actions required by divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section in accordance with the rules adopted under section 3701.508 of the Revised Code. A hospital or freestanding birthing center may commence taking these actions at any time after the effective date of the rules but not later than June 30, 2004, unless an extension is granted. The director may grant an extension to delay for up to one year after June 30, 2004, the requirement of compliance with the rules if the hospital or freestanding birthing center requesting the extension demonstrates justifiable cause for the extension. Justifiable cause may include having ordered but not yet received hearing screening equipment, ongoing efforts to obtain financing for the equipment, or any other cause accepted by the director.

(B) Any hospital or freestanding birthing center providing a hearing screening in accordance with division (A) of this section shall be reimbursed by the department of health at a rate determined by the director of health, if both of the following are the case:

(1) The screening is performed before the newborn or infant is discharged from the hospital or freestanding birthing center.

(2) The parent, guardian, or custodian is financially unable to pay for the hearing screening and the hospital or freestanding birthing center is not reimbursed by a third-party payer as determined pursuant to rules adopted under section 3701.508 of the Revised Code.

(C) A hospital, clinic, or other health care facility at which a hearing evaluation is performed on a newborn or infant shall report the results of the evaluation to the attending physician of the newborn or infant.

Effective Date: 08-01-2002

The department of health shall prepare and distribute to all hospitals and freestanding birthing centers required to provide hearing screenings under the program established under section 3701.504 of the Revised Code and each board of health, information describing factors or conditions of hearing loss and the effect of such a loss on an infant or child’s language development, and information on the importance of hearing screening, hearing evaluation, early intervention, and follow-up care for newborns and infants. This information shall be updated as the department determines necessary.

Each hospital or freestanding birthing center shall provide the parent, guardian, or custodian of each newborn or infant born in the hospital or freestanding birthing center with the information prepared by the department pursuant to this section.

Each board of health shall provide the parent, guardian, or custodian of each newborn or infant born in the area served by the board who is not born in a hospital or freestanding birthing center with the information prepared by the department pursuant to this section.

Effective Date: 08-01-2002

(A) To assist in implementing sections 3701.503 to 3701.509 of the Revised Code, the medically handicapped children’s medical advisory council created in section 3701.025 of the Revised Code shall appoint a permanent infant hearing screening subcommittee. The subcommittee shall consist of the following members:

(1) One otolaryngologist;

(2) One neonatologist;

(3) One pediatrician;

(4) One neurologist;

(5) One hospital administrator;

(6) Two or more audiologists who are experienced in infant hearing screening and evaluation;

(7) One speech-language pathologist licensed under section 4753.07 of the Revised Code;

(8) Two persons who are each a parent of a hearing-impaired child;

(9) One geneticist;

(10) One epidemiologist;

(11) One adult who is deaf or hearing impaired;

(12) One representative from an organization for the deaf or hearing impaired;

(13) One family advocate;

(14) One nurse from a well-baby neonatal nursery;

(15) One nurse from a special care neonatal nursery;

(16) One teacher of the deaf who works with infants and toddlers;

(17) One representative of the health insurance industry;

(18) One representative of the bureau for children with medical handicaps;

(19) One representative of the department of education;

(20) One representative of the Ohio department of job and family services who has responsibilities regarding medicaid;

(21) Any other person the advisory council appoints.

(B) The infant hearing subcommittee shall:

(1) Consult with the director of health regarding the administration of sections 3701.503 to 3701.509 of the Revised Code;

(2) Advise and make recommendations regarding proposed rules prior to their adoption by the public health council under section 3701.508 of the Revised Code;

(3) Consult with the director of health and advise and make recommendations regarding program development and implementation under sections 3701.503 to 3701.509 of the Revised Code, including all of the following:

(a) Establishment under section 3701.504 of the Revised Code of the statewide hearing screening, tracking, and early intervention program to identify newborn and infant hearing impairment;

(b) Identification of locations where hearing evaluations may be conducted;

(c) Recommendations for methods and techniques of hearing screening and hearing evaluation;

(d) Referral, data recording and compilation, and procedures to encourage follow-up hearing care;

(e) Maintenance of a register of newborns and infants who do not pass the hearing screening;

(f) Preparation of the information required by section 3701.506 of the Revised Code and any other information the public health council requires the department of health to provide.

Effective Date: 08-01-2002

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

(A) The public health council shall adopt rules governing the statewide hearing screening, tracking, and early intervention program established under section 3701.504 of the Revised Code, including rules that do all of the following:

(1) Specify how hospitals and freestanding birthing centers are to comply with the requirements of section 3701.505 of the Revised Code, including methods to be used for hearing screening, except that with regard to the physiologic equipment to be used for hearing screening, the rules may require only that the equipment be capable of giving reliable results and may not specify particular equipment or a particular type of equipment;

(2) Provide that no newborn or infant shall be required to undergo a hearing screening if the parent, guardian, or custodian of the newborn or infant objects on the grounds that the screening conflicts with the parent’s, guardian’s, or custodian’s religious tenets and practices;

(3) Provide for situations in which the parent, guardian, or custodian of a newborn or infant objects to a hearing screening for reasons other than religious tenets and practices;

(4) Specify how the department of health will determine whether a person is financially unable to pay for a hearing screening and define “third-party payer” for the purpose of reimbursement of hearing screening by the department under section 3701.505 of the Revised Code;

(5) Specify an inexpensive and efficient format and procedures for the submission of hearing screening information from hospitals and freestanding birthing centers to the department of health;

(6) Specify a procedure whereby the department may conduct timely reviews of hearing screening information submissions for purposes of quality assurance, training, and disease prevention and control;

(7) Specify any additional information that hospitals and freestanding birthing centers are to provide to the medically handicapped children’s medical advisory council’s infant hearing screening subcommittee under section 3701.509 of the Revised Code.

(B) In addition to the rules adopted under division (A) of this section, the council shall adopt rules that specify the training that must be completed by persons who will conduct hearing screenings. In adopting these rules, the council shall consider incorporating cost-saving training methods, including computer-assisted learning and on-site training. Neither the rules nor the director of health may establish a minimum educational level for persons conducting hearing screenings.

(C) All rules adopted under this section shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code and shall be adopted so as to take effect not later than six months after the effective date of this section.

Effective Date: 08-01-2002

(A) The department of health shall develop a mechanism to analyze and interpret the hearing screening information to be reported under division (B) of this section. The department shall notify all hospitals and freestanding birthing centers subject to the reporting requirements of the date the department anticipates that the mechanism will be complete. After the mechanism is complete, the department shall notify each hospital and freestanding birthing center subject to the reporting requirement of the date by which the hospital or center must submit its first report.

(B) Subject to division (A) of this section and in accordance with rules adopted by the public health council under section 3701.508 of the Revised Code, each hospital and freestanding birthing center that has conducted a hearing screening required by section 3701.505 of the Revised Code shall provide to the department of health for use by the medically handicapped children’s medical advisory council’s infant hearing screening subcommittee information specifying all of the following:

(1) The number of newborns born in the hospital or freestanding birthing center and the number of newborns and infants not screened because they were transferred to another hospital;

(2) The number of newborns and infants referred to the hospital or freestanding birthing center for a hearing screening and the number of those newborns and infants who received a hearing screening;

(3) The number of newborns and infants who did not pass the hearing screenings conducted by the hospital or freestanding birthing center;

(4) Any other information concerning the program established under section 3701.504 of the Revised Code.

(C) The department of health shall conduct a timely review of the information submitted by hospitals and freestanding birthing centers in accordance with rules adopted by the public health council under section 3701.508 of the Revised Code.

(D) The infant hearing screening subcommittee, with the support of the department of health, shall compile and summarize the information submitted to the department by hospitals and freestanding birthing centers under division (B) of this section. Beginning with the first year after the mechanism developed under division (A) of this section is complete, the subcommittee shall annually prepare and transmit a report to the director of health, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of the senate. The council shall make the report available to the public.

(E) The department and all members of the subcommittee shall maintain the confidentiality of patient-identifying information submitted under division (B) of this section and section 3701.505 of the Revised Code. The information is not a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code, except to the extent that the information is used in preparing reports under this section.

Nothing in this division prohibits the department from providing patient-identifying information to other entities as it considers necessary to implement the statewide tracking and early intervention components of the program established under section 3701.504 of the Revised Code. Any entity that receives patient-identifying information from the department shall maintain the confidentiality of the information.

Effective Date: 08-01-2002

Any inflammation, swelling, or redness in either one or both eyes of any infant, either apart from or together with any unnatural discharge from the eyes of such infant, independent of the nature of the infection, if any, occurring any time within two weeks after the birth of such infant, shall be known as “inflammation of the eyes of the newborn.” Any inflammation of the conjunctiva or cornea, either apart from or together with any unnatural discharge from the eyes, occurring at any time after two weeks after birth, if caused by the gonococcus, shall be known as “gonorrheal ophthalmia.”

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

None of the funds appropriated to administer the programs authorized by sections 3701.501 and 3701.502 of the Revised Code shall be used to counsel or refer for abortion, except in the case of a medical emergency.

Effective Date: 04-05-2007

Every physician, surgeon, obstetrician, certified nurse-midwife, nurse, maternity home or hospital of any nature, parent, relative, or any others attendant on any person with inflammation of the eyes, knowing either condition, defined in section 3701.51 of the Revised Code, to exist, within six hours thereafter, shall report such facts, as the department of health shall direct, to the health commissioner of the city or general health district within which such person may reside.

Effective Date: 09-10-1996

The health commissioner of a city or general health district shall:

(A) Investigate each case of inflammation of eyes of the newborn or gonorrheal ophthalmia as filed with him and any other such case that comes to his attention;

(B) Report all cases of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn or gonorrheal ophthalmia, and the result of all such investigation, as the department of health directs;

(C) Conform to such other rules and regulations as the department promulgates for his further guidance;

(D) Determine the nature of the inflammation of the eyes in any case reported to him, and refer immediately to the Ohio commission for the blind, any inflammation of the eyes, for such treatment as the commission deems necessary.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The department of health shall:

(A) Enforce sections 3701.51 to 3701.55 of the Revised Code;

(B) Promulgate rules as necessary for the purpose of those sections and as the director of health deems necessary for the further and proper guidance of health commissioners;

(C) Provide for the gratuitous distribution of a scientific prophylactic for inflammation of the eyes of the newborn, together with directions for its proper use and administration , to all physicians and certified nurse-midwives engaged in the practice of obstetrics or assisting at childbirth;

(D) Publish and promulgate such further advice and information concerning the dangers of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn and of gonorrheal ophthalmia, and the necessity for prompt and effective treatment;

(E) Furnish copies of sections 3701.51 to 3701.55 of the Revised Code to all physicians, certified nurse-midwives, and persons engaged in services relating to the public health;

(F) Keep a proper record of all cases of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn and gonorrheal ophthalmia filed with the department pursuant to sections 3701.51 to 3701.55 of the Revised Code and as may come to its attention in any way;

(G) Report all violations of sections 3701.51 to 3701.55 of the Revised Code that come to its attention to the state medical board and also to the prosecuting attorney of the county wherein the violation was committed, and assist those officials in every way possible.

Effective Date: 09-10-1996

Every physician, certified nurse-midwife, or other person in attendance at childbirth shall, immediately after the birth, use in the eyes of the newborn child some prophylactic against inflammation of the eyes of such child, and shall make a record on the birth certificate of the prophylactic used.

Effective Date: 09-10-1996

Boards of health of a general or city health district, health authorities and officials, officers of state institutions, police officers, sheriffs, constables, and other officers and employees of the state or any county, city, or township, shall enforce quarantine and isolation orders, and the rules the department of health adopts.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

All prosecutions and proceedings by the department of health for the violation of sections 3701.01 to 3701.56, 3705.01 to 3705.29, 3707.06, 3709.01 to 3709.04, 3709.07 to 3709.11, 3709.13, 3709.17, 3709.18, and 3709.21 to 3709.36 of the Revised Code, or for the violation of any of the orders or rules of the department, shall be instituted by the director of health. Except as provided in division (C) of section 3701.571 of the Revised Code, all fines or judgments the department collects shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the general revenue fund.

The director of health, the board of health of a general or city health district, or any person charged with enforcing the rules of the department of health as provided in section 3701.56 of the Revised Code may petition the court of common pleas for injunctive or other appropriate relief requiring any person violating a rule adopted by the public health council under section 3701.34 of the Revised Code or any order issued by the director of health under this chapter to comply with such rule or order. The court of common pleas of the county in which the offense is alleged to be occurring may grant such injunctive or other appropriate relief as the equities of the case require.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

(A) The director of health shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that establish a graduated system of fines based on the scope and severity of violations and the history of compliance, not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars per incident, and in an adjudication under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, may impose a fine against any person who violates division (C) of section 3701.23, division (C) of section 3701.232, division (C) of section 3701.24, division (B) of section 3701.25, or division (B) of section 3707.06 of the Revised Code or against any poison prevention and treatment center or other health-related entity that fails to comply with division (C) of section 3701.201 of the Revised Code.

(B) On request of the director, the attorney general shall bring and prosecute to judgment a civil action to collect any fine imposed under division (A) of this section that remains unpaid.

(C) All fines collected under this section shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the general operations fund created under section 3701.83 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004

The prosecuting attorney shall prosecute all violations of sections 3701.51 to 3701.55 and 3705.01 to 3705.29 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-16-1989

Effective Date: 10-23-1972

Every hospital agency as defined in section 140.01 of the Revised Code, shall offer a uterine cytologic examination for cancer to every female in-patient eighteen years of age of over unless contrary orders are given by the attending physician or unless the examination has been performed within the preceding year. Any female in-patient may refuse such examination. The hospital agency shall in all cases maintain records to show the results of the examination, or that the examination was not applicable or was refused.

Effective Date: 08-25-1976

(A) The department of health shall establish the help me grow program to encourage early prenatal and well-baby care, provide parenting education to promote the comprehensive health and development of children, and provide early intervention services in accordance with part C of the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,” 118 Stat. 2744 (2004), 20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq. The program shall include the following services:

(1) Home visiting services to families with a pregnant woman or an infant or toddler under three years of age who meet the eligibility requirements established in rules adopted under this section;

(2) Part C early intervention services to infants and toddlers under three years of age who meet the eligibility requirements established in rules adopted under this section.

(B) The director of health may enter into an interagency agreement with one or more state agencies to implement the help me grow program and ensure coordination of early childhood programs.

(C) The director may distribute help me grow program funds through contracts, grants, or subsidies to entities providing services under the program.

(D) To the extent funds are available, the department shall establish a system of payment to providers of home visiting and part C early intervention services.

(E) As a condition of receiving payments for home visiting services, providers shall report to the director data on the program performance indicators that are used to assess progress toward achieving the goals of the program. The report shall include data on the performance indicator of birth outcomes, including risk indicators of low birth weight and preterm births, and data on all other performance indicators specified in rules adopted under this section. The providers shall report the data in the format and within the time frames specified in the rules.

The director shall prepare an annual report on the data received from the providers.

(F) Pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, the director shall adopt rules that are necessary and proper to implement this section. The rules shall specify all of the following:

(1) Eligibility requirements for home visiting services and part C early intervention services;

(2) Eligibility requirements for providers of home visiting services and providers of part C early intervention services;

(3) Standards and procedures for the provision of program services, including data collection, program monitoring, and program evaluation;

(4) Procedures for appealing the denial of an application for program services or the termination of services;

(5) Procedures for appealing the denial of an application to become a provider of program services or the termination of the department’s approval of a provider;

(6) Procedures for addressing complaints;

(7) The program performance indicators on which data must be reported by providers of home visiting services under division (E) of this section, which, to the extent possible, shall be consistent with federal reporting requirements for federally funded home visiting services;

(8) The format in which reports must be submitted under division (E) of this section and the time frames within which the reports must be submitted;

(9) Criteria for payment of approved providers of program services;

(10) Any other rules necessary to implement the program.

(G) A family enrolled in the help me grow at-risk program on the effective date of this amendment shall be eligible for at-risk services until December 31, 2013, or until the eligible child reaches three years of age, whichever occurs first.

Amended by 129th General Assembly File No. 28, HB 153, § 101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

(A) The governor shall create the help me grow advisory council in accordance with 20 U.S.C. 1441, which shall serve as the state interagency coordinating council, as described in 20 U.S.C. 1441. Members of the council shall reasonably represent the population of this state. The governor shall appoint as a member of the council a representative of a board of health of a city or general health district or an authority having the duties of a board of health under section 3709.05 of the Revised Code. The governor shall appoint one of the council members to serve as chairperson of the council, or the governor may delegate appointment of the chairperson to the council. No member of the council representing the department of health shall serve as chairperson.

(B) The council shall meet at least once in each quarter of the calendar year. The chairperson may call additional meetings if necessary.

(C)A member of the council shall not vote on any matter that is likely to provide a direct financial benefit to that member or otherwise be a conflict of interest.

(D)The governor may reimburse members of the council for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties, including child care for the parent representatives described in 20 U.S.C. 1441(b)(1)(A). The governor also may compensate members of the council who are not employed or who must forfeit wages from other employment when performing official council business.

(E) The department of health shall serve as the “lead agency,” as described by 20 U.S.C. 1435(a)(10).

(F)The help me grow advisory council shall do all of the following:

(1)Advise and assist the department of health in the performance of the responsibilities described in 20 U.S.C. 1435(a)(10), including the following:

(a)Identification of the sources of fiscal and other support for services for early intervention programs;

(b)Assignment of financial responsibility to the appropriate agency, in accordance with 20 U.S.C. 1437(a)(2) ;

(c)Promotion of formal interagency agreements that define the financial responsibility of each agency for paying for early intervention services and procedures for resolving disputes;

(2) Advise and assist the department of health in the preparation and amendment of applications related to the department of health’s responsibilities described in 20 U.S.C. 1435(a)(10) ;

(3) Advise and assist the department of education regarding the transition of toddlers with disabilities to preschool and other appropriate services;

(4) Prepare and submit an annual report to the governor, before the thirtieth day of September, on the status of early intervention programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families operated within this state during the most recent fiscal year.

(G) The help me grow advisory council may advise and assist the department of health and the department of education regarding the provision of appropriate services for children age five and younger. The council may advise appropriate agencies about the integration of services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, and at-risk infants and toddlers and their families, regardless of whether at-risk infants and toddlers are eligible for early intervention services.

(H) The help me grow advisory council shall promote family-centered programs and services that acknowledge and support the social, emotional, cognitive, intellectual, and physical development of children and the vital role of families in ensuring the well-being and success of children.

Added by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 06-30-1997

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

The director of health shall request a student data verification code from the independent contractor engaged by the department of education to create and maintain such codes for school districts and community schools under division (D)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code for each child who is receiving services under division (A)(2) of section 3701.61 of the Revised Code and who is about to become eligible for special education and related services under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code. The director shall request from the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child, or from any other person who is authorized by law to make decisions regarding the child’s education, the name and address of the public school in which the child will be enrolled for special education and related services under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code. The director shall submit the data verification code for that child to that public school at the time the child ceases to receive services under division (A)(2) of section 3701.61 of the Revised Code and begins to receive special education and related services under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code.

The director and each school that receives a data verification code under this section shall not release that code to any person except as provided by law. Any document that the director holds in the director’s files that contains both a child’s name or other personally identifiable information and the child’s data verification code shall not be a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-30-2007

(A) As used in this section and section 3701.64 of the Revised Code:

(1) “Child day-care center,” “type A family day-care home,” and “certified type B family day-care home” have the same meanings as in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Child care facility” means a child day-care center, a type A family day-care home, or a certified type B family day-care home.

(3) “Freestanding birthing center” has the same meaning as in section 3702.51 of the Revised Code.

(4) “Hospital” means a hospital classified pursuant to rules adopted under section 3701.07 of the Revised Code as a general hospital or children’s hospital.

(5) “Maternity unit” means any unit or place in a hospital where women are regularly received and provided care during all or part of the maternity cycle, except that “maternity unit” does not include an emergency department or similar place dedicated to providing emergency health care.

(6) “Parent” means either parent, unless the parents are separated or divorced or their marriage has been dissolved or annulled, in which case “parent” means the parent who is the residential parent and legal custodian of the child. “Parent” also means a prospective adoptive parent with whom a child is placed.

(7) “Shaken Baby Syndrome” means signs and symptoms, including, but not limited to, retinal hemorrhages in one or both eyes, subdural hematoma, or brain swelling, resulting from the violent shaking or the shaking and impacting of the head of an infant or small child.

(B) The director of health shall establish the shaken baby syndrome education program by doing all of the following:

(1) By not later than one year after February 29, 2008, developing educational materials that present readily comprehendible information on shaken baby syndrome;

(2) Making available on the department of health web site in an easily accessible format the educational materials developed under division (B)(1) of this section;

(3) Beginning in 2009, annually assessing the effectiveness of the shaken baby syndrome education program by evaluating the reports received pursuant to section 5101.135 of the Revised Code.

(C) In meeting the requirements under division (B) of this section, the director shall not develop educational materials that will impose an administrative or financial burden on any of the entities or persons listed in section 3701.64 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, § 1, eff. 6/30/2011.

Effective Date: 2007 SB144 02-29-2008

(A) A copy of the shaken baby syndrome educational materials developed under section 3701.63 of the Revised Code shall be distributed in the following manner:

(1) By child birth educators and the staff of pediatric physicians’ offices and obstetricians offices, to an expectant parent who uses their services;

(2) By the hospital or freestanding birthing center in which a child is born, to the child’s parent before the child is discharged from the facility;

(3) By the staff of the “help me grow” program established pursuant to section 3701.61 of the Revised Code, to the child’s parent during home-visiting services conducted in accordance with that section;

(4) By each child care facility operating in this state, to each of its employees.

(B) Each entity and person required to distribute educational materials pursuant to division (A) of this section is immune from any civil and criminal liability for injury, death, or loss to person or property resulting from the dissemination of, or failure to disseminate, those educational materials.

Effective Date: 2007 SB144 02-29-2008

(A) There is hereby created in the state treasury the “choose life” fund. The fund shall consist of the contributions that are paid to the registrar of motor vehicles by applicants who voluntarily elect to obtain “choose life” license plates pursuant to section 4503.91 of the Revised Code and any money returned to the fund under division (E)(1)(d) of this section. All investment earnings of the fund shall be credited to the fund.

(B)(1) At least annually, the director of health shall distribute the money in the fund to any private, nonprofit organization that is eligible to receive funds under this section and that applies for funding under division (C) of this section.

(2) The director shall distribute the funds based on the county in which the organization applying for funding is located and in proportion to the number of “choose life” license plates issued during the preceding year to vehicles registered in each county. The director shall distribute funds allocated for a county to one or more eligible organizations located in contiguous counties if no eligible organization located within the county applies for funding. Within each county, eligible organizations that apply for funding shall share equally in the funds available for distribution to organizations located within that county.

(C) Any organization seeking funds under this section annually shall apply for distribution of the funds based on the county in which the organization is located. An organization may apply for funding in a contiguous county if it demonstrates that it provides services for pregnant women residing in that contiguous county. The director shall develop an application form and may determine the schedule and procedures that an organization shall follow when annually applying for funds. The application shall inform the applicant of the conditions for receiving and using funds under division (E) of this section. The application shall require evidence that the organization meets all of the following requirements:

(1) Is a private, nonprofit organization;

(2) Is committed to counseling pregnant women about the option of adoption;

(3) Provides services within the state to pregnant women who are planning to place their children for adoption, including counseling and meeting the material needs of the women;

(4) Does not charge women for any services received;

(5) Is not involved or associated with any abortion activities, including counseling for or referrals to abortion clinics, providing medical abortion-related procedures, or pro-abortion advertising;

(6) Does not discriminate in its provision of any services on the basis of race, religion, color, age, marital status, national origin, handicap, gender, or age.

(D) The director shall not distribute funds to an organization that does not provide verifiable evidence of the requirements specified in the application under division (C) of this section and shall not provide additional funds to any organization that fails to comply with division (E) of this section in regard to its previous receipt of funds under this section.

(E)(1) An organization receiving funds under this section shall do all of the following:

(a) Use not more than sixty per cent of the funds distributed to it for the material needs of pregnant women who are planning to place their children for adoption or for infants awaiting placement with adoptive parents, including clothing, housing, medical care, food, utilities, and transportation;

(b) Use not more than forty per cent of the funds distributed to it for counseling, training, or advertising;

(c) Not use any of the funds distributed to it for administrative expenses, legal expenses, or capital expenditures;

(d) Annually return to the fund created under division (A) of this section any unused money that exceeds ten per cent of the money distributed to the organization.

(2) The organization annually shall submit to the director an audited financial statement verifying its compliance with division (E)(1) of this section.

(F) The director, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules to implement this section.

It is not the intent of the general assembly that the department create a new position within the department to implement and administer this section. It is the intent of the general assembly that the implementation and administration of this section be accomplished by existing department personnel.

Effective Date: 05-18-2005; 09-29-2005; 03-30-2006

Effective Date: 06-30-1997

To comply with the Social Security Act Amendments of 1950, known as Public Law 734-81 st Congress, the Ohio department of health is hereby designated as the state authority responsible for establishing and maintaining minimum standards for voluntary and governmental hospitals and in units providing medical and nursing care in city and county institutions.

Effective Date: 09-16-1957

Subject to the provisions of sections 119.01 to 119.13, inclusive, of the Revised Code, the Ohio department of health shall have the power to adopt reasonable rules and regulations to establish and maintain such minimum standards.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Sections 3701.71 and 3701.72 of the Revised Code shall not be applicable to institutions licensed or approved under other existing statutes.

Effective Date: 01-10-1961

(A) As used in this section and section 3701.741 of the Revised Code:

(1) “Ambulatory care facility” means a facility that provides medical, diagnostic, or surgical treatment to patients who do not require hospitalization, including a dialysis center, ambulatory surgical facility, cardiac catheterization facility, diagnostic imaging center, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy center, home health agency, inpatient hospice, birthing center, radiation therapy center, emergency facility, and an urgent care center. “Ambulatory care facility” does not include the private office of a physician or dentist, whether the office is for an individual or group practice.

(2) “Chiropractor” means an individual licensed under Chapter 4734. of the Revised Code to practice chiropractic.

(3) “Emergency facility” means a hospital emergency department or any other facility that provides emergency medical services.

(4) “Health care practitioner” means all of the following:

(a) A dentist or dental hygienist licensed under Chapter 4715. of the Revised Code;

(b) A registered or licensed practical nurse licensed under Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code;

(c) An optometrist licensed under Chapter 4725. of the Revised Code;

(d) A dispensing optician, spectacle dispensing optician, contact lens dispensing optician, or spectacle-contact lens dispensing optician licensed under Chapter 4725. of the Revised Code;

(e) A pharmacist licensed under Chapter 4729. of the Revised Code;

(f) A physician;

(g) A physician assistant authorized under Chapter 4730. of the Revised Code to practice as a physician assistant;

(h) A practitioner of a limited branch of medicine issued a certificate under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code;

(i) A psychologist licensed under Chapter 4732. of the Revised Code;

(j) A chiropractor;

(k) A hearing aid dealer or fitter licensed under Chapter 4747. of the Revised Code;

(l) A speech-language pathologist or audiologist licensed under Chapter 4753. of the Revised Code;

(m) An occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant licensed under Chapter 4755. of the Revised Code;

(n) A physical therapist or physical therapy assistant licensed under Chapter 4755. of the Revised Code;

(o) A professional clinical counselor, professional counselor, social worker, or independent social worker licensed, or a social work assistant registered, under Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code;

(p) A dietitian licensed under Chapter 4759. of the Revised Code;

(q) A respiratory care professional licensed under Chapter 4761. of the Revised Code;

(r) An emergency medical technician-basic, emergency medical technician-intermediate, or emergency medical technician-paramedic certified under Chapter 4765. of the Revised Code.

(5) “Health care provider” means a hospital, ambulatory care facility, long-term care facility, pharmacy, emergency facility, or health care practitioner.

(6) “Hospital” has the same meaning as in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code.

(7) “Long-term care facility” means a nursing home, residential care facility, or home for the aging, as those terms are defined in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code; an adult care facility, as defined in section 5119.70 of the Revised Code; a nursing facility or intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, as those terms are defined in section 5111.20 of the Revised Code; a facility or portion of a facility certified as a skilled nursing facility under Title XVIII of the “Social Security Act,” 49 Stat. 286 (1965), 42 U.S.C.A. 1395, as amended.

(8) “Medical record” means data in any form that pertains to a patient’s medical history, diagnosis, prognosis, or medical condition and that is generated and maintained by a health care provider in the process of the patient’s health care treatment.

(9) “Medical records company” means a person who stores, locates, or copies medical records for a health care provider, or is compensated for doing so by a health care provider, and charges a fee for providing medical records to a patient or patient’s representative.

(10) “Patient” means either of the following:

(a) An individual who received health care treatment from a health care provider;

(b) A guardian, as defined in section 1337.11 of the Revised Code, of an individual described in division (A)(10)(a) of this section.

(11) “Patient’s personal representative” means a minor patient’s parent or other person acting in loco parentis, a court-appointed guardian, or a person with durable power of attorney for health care for a patient, the executor or administrator of the patient’s estate, or the person responsible for the patient’s estate if it is not to be probated. “Patient’s personal representative” does not include an insurer authorized under Title XXXIX of the Revised Code to do the business of sickness and accident insurance in this state, a health insuring corporation holding a certificate of authority under Chapter 1751. of the Revised Code, or any other person not named in this division.

(12) “Pharmacy” has the same meaning as in section 4729.01 of the Revised Code.

(13) “Physician” means a person authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery, osteopathic medicine and surgery, or podiatric medicine and surgery.

(14) “Authorized person” means a person to whom a patient has given written authorization to act on the patient’s behalf regarding the patient’s medical record.

(B) A patient, a patient’s personal representative or an authorized person who wishes to examine or obtain a copy of part or all of a medical record shall submit to the health care provider a written request signed by the patient, personal representative, or authorized person dated not more than one year before the date on which it is submitted. The request shall indicate whether the copy is to be sent to the requestor, physician or chiropractor, or held for the requestor at the office of the health care provider. Within a reasonable time after receiving a request that meets the requirements of this division and includes sufficient information to identify the record requested, a health care provider that has the patient’s medical records shall permit the patient to examine the record during regular business hours without charge or, on request, shall provide a copy of the record in accordance with section 3701.741 of the Revised Code, except that if a physician or chiropractor who has treated the patient determines for clearly stated treatment reasons that disclosure of the requested record is likely to have an adverse effect on the patient, the health care provider shall provide the record to a physician or chiropractor designated by the patient. The health care provider shall take reasonable steps to establish the identity of the person making the request to examine or obtain a copy of the patient’s record.

(C) If a health care provider fails to furnish a medical record as required by division (B) of this section, the patient, personal representative, or authorized person who requested the record may bring a civil action to enforce the patient’s right of access to the record.

(D)(1) This section does not apply to medical records whose release is covered by section 173.20 or 3721.13 of the Revised Code, by Chapter 1347. or 5122. of the Revised Code, by 42 C.F.R. part 2, “Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records,” or by 42 C.F.R. 483.10.

(2) Nothing in this section is intended to supersede the confidentiality provisions of sections 2305.24, 2305.25, 2305.251, and 2305.252 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 129th General Assembly File No. 28, HB 153, § 101.01, eff. 7/1/2011.

Effective Date: 04-09-2003; 12-21-2004; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

(A) Each health care provider and medical records company shall provide copies of medical records in accordance with this section.

(B) Except as provided in divisions (C) and (E) of this section, a health care provider or medical records company that receives a request for a copy of a patient’s medical record shall charge not more than the amounts set forth in this section.

(1) If the request is made by the patient or the patient’s personal representative, total costs for copies and all services related to those copies shall not exceed the sum of the following:

(a) Except as provided in division (B)(1)(b) of this section, with respect to data recorded on paper or electronically, the following amounts:

(i) Two dollars and seventy-four cents per page for the first ten pages;*

(ii) Fifty-seven cents per page for pages eleven through fifty;*

(iii) Twenty-three cents per page for pages fifty-one and higher;*

(b) With respect to data resulting from an x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or computed axial tomography (CAT) scan and recorded on paper or film, one dollar and eighty-seven cents per page;*

(c) The actual cost of any related postage incurred by the health care provider or medical records company.

(2) If the request is made other than by the patient or the patient’s personal representative, total costs for copies and all services related to those copies shall not exceed the sum of the following:

(a) An initial fee of sixteen dollars and eighty-four cents, which shall compensate for the records search;*

(b) Except as provided in division (B)(2)(c) of this section, with respect to data recorded on paper or electronically, the following amounts:

(i) One dollar and eleven cents per page for the first ten pages;*

(ii) Fifty-seven cents per page for pages eleven through fifty;*

(iii) Twenty-three cents per page for pages fifty-one and higher.*

(c) With respect to data resulting from an x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or computed axial tomography (CAT) scan and recorded on paper or film, one dollar and eighty-seven cents per page;*

(d) The actual cost of any related postage incurred by the health care provider or medical records company.

(C)(1) On request, a health care provider or medical records company shall provide one copy of the patient’s medical record and one copy of any records regarding treatment performed subsequent to the original request, not including copies of records already provided, without charge to the following:

(a) The bureau of workers’ compensation, in accordance with Chapters 4121. and 4123. of the Revised Code and the rules adopted under those chapters;

(b) The industrial commission, in accordance with Chapters 4121. and 4123. of the Revised Code and the rules adopted under those chapters;

(c) The department of job and family services or a county department of job and family services, in accordance with Chapters 5101. and 5111. of the Revised Code and the rules adopted under those chapters;

(d) The attorney general, in accordance with sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code and any rules that may be adopted under those sections;

(e) A patient , patient’s personal representative, or authorized person if the medical record is necessary to support a claim under Title II or Title XVI of the “Social Security Act,” 49 Stat. 620 (1935), 42 U.S.C.A. 401 and1381, as amended, and the request is accompanied by documentation that a claim has been filed.

(2) Nothing in division (C)(1) of this section requires a health care provider or medical records company to provide a copy without charge to any person or entity not listed in division (C)(1) of this section.

(D) Division (C) of this section shall not be construed to supersede any rule of the bureau of workers’ compensation, the industrial commission, or the department of job and family services.

(E) A health care provider or medical records company may enter into a contract with either of the following for the copying of medical records at a fee other than as provided in division (B) of this section:

(1) A patient, a patient’s personal representative, or an authorized person;

(2) An insurer authorized under Title XXXIX of the Revised Code to do the business of sickness and accident insurance in this state or health insuring corporations holding a certificate of authority under Chapter 1751. of the Revised Code.

(F) This section does not apply to medical records the copying of which is covered by section 173.20 of the Revised Code or by 42 C.F.R. 483.10.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003; 12-21-2004; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007; 2008 HB125 06-25-2008

*Price subject to adjustment. See ORC § 3701.7421 and http://www.odh.ohio.gov/landing/phs_quality/quality.aspx for current medical record fees.

Not later than January 31, 2006, the amounts specified in division (B) of section 3701.741 of the Revised Code and, not later than the first day of January of each year thereafter, any amounts computed by adjustments made under this section, shall be increased or decreased by the average percentage of increase or decrease in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (United States city average, all items), prepared by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, for the twelve-calendar-month period prior to the immediately preceding first day of January over the immediately preceding twelve-calendar-month period, as reported by the bureau. The director of health shall make this determination and adjust the amounts accordingly. The director shall provide a list of the adjusted amounts to any party upon request and the department of health shall make the list available to the public on its internet web site.

Effective Date: 03-22-2001; 12-21-2004

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Electronic record” means a record communicated, received, or stored by electronic, magnetic, optical, or similar means for storage in an information system or transmission from one information system to another. “Electronic record” includes a record that is communicated, received, or stored by electronic data interchange, electronic mail, facsimile, telex, or similar methods of communication.

(2) “Electronic signature” means any of the following attached to or associated with an electronic record by an individual to authenticate the record:

(a) A code consisting of a combination of letters, numbers, characters, or symbols that is adopted or executed by an individual as that individual’s electronic signature;

(b) A computer-generated signature code created for an individual;

(c) An electronic image of an individual’s handwritten signature created by using a pen computer.

(3) “Health care record” means any document or combination of documents pertaining to a patient’s medical history, diagnosis, prognosis, or medical condition that is generated and maintained in the process of the patient’s treatment.

(B) All notes, orders, and observations entered into a health care record, including any interpretive reports of diagnostic tests or specific treatments, such as radiologic or electrocardiographic reports, operative reports, reports of pathologic examination of tissue, and similar reports, shall be authenticated by the individual who made or authorized the entry. An entry into a health care record may be authenticated by executing handwritten signatures or handwritten initials directly on the entry. An entry that is an electronic record may be authenticated by an electronic signature if all of the following apply:

(1) The entity responsible for creating and maintaining the health care record adopts a policy that permits the use of electronic signatures on electronic records.

(2) The entity’s electronic signature system utilizes either a two-level access control mechanism that assigns a unique identifier to each user or a biometric access control device.

(3) The entity takes steps to safeguard against unauthorized access to the system and forgery of electronic signatures.

(4) The system includes a process to verify that the individual affixing the electronic signature has reviewed the contents of the entry and determined that the entry contains what that individual intended.

(5) The policy adopted by the entity pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section prescribes all of the following:

(a) A procedure by which each user of the system must certify in writing that the user will follow the confidentiality and security policies maintained by the entity for the system;

(b) Penalties for misusing the system;

(c) Training for all users of the system that includes an explanation of the appropriate use of the system and the consequences for not complying with the entity’s confidentiality and security policies.

Effective Date: 03-22-1999

(A) The director of health shall establish and maintain a statewide public information campaign on the effects of diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogens for the purpose of educating the public concerning the potential hazards related to exposure to diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogens and encouraging persons exposed to diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogens, including those exposed before birth, to seek medical attention for the identification and treatment of any conditions resulting from this exposure.

(B) The director shall maintain a registry of hospitals, clinics, physicians, or other health care providers to whom the director shall refer persons who make inquiries to the department of health regarding possible exposure to diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogens. In order to be eligible for listing in the registry, a health care provider shall make an application to the director, and shall have the necessary experience, facilities, and equipment to make examinations for possible effects of diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogens.

(C) The director shall maintain a registry of persons who have been exposed to diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogens, including persons exposed before birth, for the purpose of studying and monitoring conditions caused by exposure to diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogen. No person shall be listed in the registry without the director’s consent.

(D) The director shall make an annual report to the general assembly on the effectiveness of the programs established under this section, and shall make recommendations concerning the programs and possible legislation relating to them.

(E) No insurance company doing business under title XXXIX [39] and no health insuring corporation holding a certificate of authority under Chapter 1751. of the Revised Code shall cancel or refuse to renew a policy, contract, certificate, or agreement or limit benefits provided under a policy, contract, certificate, or agreement solely because a policyholder, subscriber, or applicant for a policy, contract, certificate, or agreement has been exposed to diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogens.

Effective Date: 06-04-1997

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 09-05-2001

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 09-05-2001

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 09-05-2001

(A) There is hereby created the commission on minority health, consisting of twenty-one members. The governor shall appoint to the commission nine members from among health researchers, health planners, and health professionals. The governor also shall appoint two members who are representatives of the lupus awareness and education program. The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint to the commission two members of the house of representatives, not more than one of whom is a member of the same political party, and the president of the senate shall appoint to the commission two members of the senate, not more than one of whom is a member of the same political party. The directors of health, mental health, developmental disabilities, alcohol and drug addiction services, and job and family services, or their designees, and the superintendent of public instruction, or the superintendent’s designee, shall be members of the commission. The commission shall elect a chairperson from among its members. Of the members appointed by the governor, five shall be appointed to initial terms of one year, and four shall be appointed to initial terms of two years. Thereafter, all members appointed by the governor shall be appointed to terms of two years. All members of the commission appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives or the president of the senate shall be nonvoting members of the commission and be appointed within thirty days after the commencement of the first regular session of each general assembly, and shall serve until the expiration of the session of the general assembly during which they were appointed. Members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for the actual and necessary expenses they incur in the performance of their official duties.

(B) The commission shall promote health and the prevention of disease among members of minority groups. Each year the commission shall distribute grants from available funds to community-based health groups to be used to promote health and the prevention of disease among members of minority groups. As used in this division, “minority group” means any of the following economically disadvantaged groups: Blacks, American Indians, Hispanics, and Orientals. The commission shall adopt and maintain rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to provide for the distribution of these grants. No group shall qualify to receive a grant from the commission unless it receives at least twenty per cent of its funds from sources other than grants distributed under this section.

(C) The commission may appoint such employees as it considers necessary to carry out its duties under this section. The department of health shall provide office space for the commission.

(D) The commission shall meet at the call of its chairperson to conduct its official business. A majority of the voting members of the commission constitute a quorum. The votes of at least eight voting members of the commission are necessary for the commission to take any official action or to approve the distribution of grants under this section.

Amended by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Amended by 128th General Assembly ch. 7, SB 79, § 1, eff. 10/6/2009.

Effective Date: 07-01-2000

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Abortion” has the same meaning as in section 2919.11 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Abortion report” means a form completed pursuant to division (C) of this section.

(3) “Ambulatory surgical facility” has the same meaning as in section 3702.30 of the Revised Code.

(4) “Department” means the department of health.

(5) “Hospital” means any building, structure, institution, or place devoted primarily to the maintenance and operation of facilities for the diagnosis, treatment, and medical or surgical care for three or more unrelated individuals suffering from illness, disease, injury, or deformity, and regularly making available at least clinical laboratory services, diagnostic x-ray services, treatment facilities for surgery or obstetrical care, or other definitive medical treatment. “Hospital” does not include a “home” as defined in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code.

(6) “Physician’s office” means an office or portion of an office that is used to provide medical or surgical services to the physician’s patients. “Physician’s office” does not mean an ambulatory surgical facility, a hospital, or a hospital emergency department.

(7) “Postabortion care” means care given after the uterus has been evacuated by abortion.

(B) The department shall be responsible for collecting and collating abortion data reported to the department as required by this section.

(C) The attending physician shall complete an individual abortion report for each abortion the physician performs upon a woman. The report shall be confidential and shall not contain the woman’s name. The report shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following, insofar as the patient makes the data available that is not within the physician’s knowledge:

(1) Patient number;

(2) The name and address of the facility in which the abortion was performed, and whether the facility is a hospital, ambulatory surgical facility, physician’s office, or other facility;

(3) The date of the abortion;

(4) All of the following regarding the woman on whom the abortion was performed:

(a) Zip code of residence;

(b) Age;

(c) Race;

(d) Marital status;

(e) Number of previous pregnancies;

(f) Years of education;

(g) Number of living children;

(h) Number of previously induced abortions;

(i) Date of last induced abortion;

(j) Date of last live birth;

(k) Method of contraception at the time of conception;

(l) Date of the first day of the last menstrual period;

(m) Medical condition at the time of the abortion;

(n) Rh-type;

(o) The number of weeks of gestation at the time of the abortion.

(5) The type of abortion procedure performed;

(6) Complications by type;

(7) Type of procedure performed after the abortion;

(8) Type of family planning recommended;

(9) Type of additional counseling given;

(10) Signature of attending physician.

(D) The physician who completed the abortion report under division (C) of this section shall submit the abortion report to the department within fifteen days after the woman is discharged.

(E) The appropriate vital records report or certificate shall be made out after the twentieth week of gestation.

(F) A copy of the abortion report shall be made part of the medical record of the patient of the facility in which the abortion was performed.

(G) Each hospital shall file monthly and annual reports listing the total number of women who have undergone a post-twelve-week-gestation abortion and received postabortion care. The annual report shall be filed following the conclusion of the state’s fiscal year. Each report shall be filed within thirty days after the end of the applicable reporting period.

(H) Each case in which a physician treats a post abortion complication shall be reported on a postabortion complication form. The report shall be made upon a form prescribed by the department, shall be signed by the attending physician, and shall be confidential.

(I)(1) Not later than the first day of October of each year, the department shall issue an annual report of the abortion data reported to the department for the previous calendar year as required by this section. The annual report shall include at least the following information:

(a) The total number of induced abortions;

(b) The number of abortions performed on Ohio and out-of-state residents;

(c) The number of abortions performed, sorted by each of the following:

(i) The age of the woman on whom the abortion was performed, using the following categories: under fifteen years of age, fifteen to nineteen years of age, twenty to twenty-four years of age, twenty-five to twenty-nine years of age, thirty to thirty-four years of age, thirty-five to thirty-nine years of age, forty to forty-four years of age, forty-five years of age or older;

(ii) The race and Hispanic ethnicity of the woman on whom the abortion was performed;

(iii) The education level of the woman on whom the abortion was performed, using the following categories or their equivalents: less than ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grade, one or more years of college;

(iv) The marital status of the woman on whom the abortion was performed;

(v) The number of living children of the woman on whom the abortion was performed, using the following categories: none, one, or two or more;

(vi) The number of weeks of gestation of the woman at the time the abortion was performed, using the following categories: less than nine weeks, nine to twelve weeks, thirteen to nineteen weeks, or twenty weeks or more;

(vii) The county in which the abortion was performed;

(viii) The type of abortion procedure performed;

(ix) The number of abortions previously performed on the woman on whom the abortion was performed;

(x) The type of facility in which the abortion was performed;

(xi) For Ohio residents, the county of residence of the woman on whom the abortion was performed.

(2) The report also shall indicate the number and type of the abortion complications reported to the department either on the abortion report required under division (C) of this section or the postabortion complication report required under division (H) of this section.

(3) In addition to the annual report required under division (I)(1) of this section, the department shall make available, on request, the number of abortions performed by zip code of residence.

(J) The director of health shall implement this section and shall apply to the court of common pleas for temporary or permanent injunctions restraining a violation or threatened violation of its requirements. This action is an additional remedy not dependent on the adequacy of the remedy at law.

Effective Date: 03-30-2006

(A) As used in this section, “medical emergency” means a condition of a pregnant woman that, in the reasonable judgment of the physician who is attending the woman, creates an immediate threat of serious risk to the life or physical health of the woman from the continuation of the pregnancy necessitating the immediate performance or inducement of an abortion.

(B) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, an office or facility at which abortions are performed or induced shall post the notice described in division (C) of this section in a conspicuous location in an area of the office or facility that is accessible to all patients, employees, and visitors.

The notice shall be displayed on a poster with dimensions of at least seventeen inches by eleven inches. The first two sentences of the notice shall be printed in at least a forty-four-point typeface and the remaining lines shall be in at least a thirty-point typeface.

(C) The department of health shall publish the following notice on its internet web site in a manner that can be copied and produced in poster form:

“NO ONE CAN FORCE YOU TO HAVE AN ABORTION.

NO ONE — NOT A PARENT, NOT A HUSBAND, NOT A BOYFRIEND — NO ONE.

Under Ohio law, an abortion cannot be legally performed on anyone, regardless of her age, unless she VOLUNTARILY CONSENTS to having the abortion.

Ohio law requires that, before an abortion can legally be performed, the pregnant female must sign a form indicating that she consents to having the abortion “voluntarily” and “WITHOUT COERCION BY ANY PERSON.”

IF SOMEONE IS TRYING TO FORCE YOU TO HAVE AN ABORTION AGAINST YOUR WILL:

DO NOT SIGN THE CONSENT FORM

IF YOU ARE AT AN ABORTION FACILITY, TELL AN EMPLOYEE OF THE FACILITY THAT SOMEONE IS TRYING TO FORCE YOU TO HAVE AN ABORTION.”

(D) Division (B) of this section does not apply to an office or facility at which abortions are performed or induced due only to a medical emergency.

Effective Date: 2008 HB280 04-07-2009

The department of health shall cooperate with the director of job and family services when the director promulgates rules pursuant to Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code governing the health and sanitary practices of meal preparation and service for type A family day-care homes, as defined in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code, recommend procedures for inspecting type A family day-care homes to determine whether they are in compliance with those rules, and provide training and technical assistance to the director on the procedures for determining compliance with those rules.

Effective Date: 07-01-2000

(A) No person, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that he is suffering from a dangerous, contagious disease, shall knowingly fail to take reasonable measures to prevent exposing himself to other persons, except when seeking medical aid.

(B) No person, having charge or care of a person whom he knows or has reasonable cause to believe is suffering from a dangerous, contagious disease, shall recklessly fail to take reasonable measures to protect others from exposure to the contagion, and to inform health authorities of the existence of the contagion.

(C) No person, having charge of a public conveyance or place of public accommodation, amusement, resort, or trade, and knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that persons using such conveyance or place have been or are being exposed to a dangerous, contagious disease, shall negligently fail to take reasonable measures to protect the public from exposure to the contagion, and to inform health authorities of the existence of the contagion.

Effective Date: 01-01-1974

(A) A brazier, salamander, space heater, room heater, furnace, water heater, or other burner or heater using wood, coal, coke, fuel oil, kerosene, gasoline, natural gas, liquid petroleum gas, or similar fuel, and tending to give off carbon monoxide or other harmful gases:

(1) When used in living quarters, or in any enclosed building or space in which persons are usually present, shall be used with a flue or vent so designed, installed, and maintained as to vent the products of combustion outdoors; except in storage, factory, or industrial buildings which are provided with sufficient ventilation to avoid the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning;

(2) When used as a portable or temporary burner or heater at a construction site, or in a warehouse, shed, or structure in which persons are temporarily present, shall be vented as provided in division (A)(1) of this section, or used with sufficient ventilation to avoid the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.

(B) This section does not apply to domestic ranges, laundry stoves, gas logs installed in a fireplace with an adequate flue, or hot plates, unless the same are used as space or room heaters.

(C) No person shall negligently use, or, being the owner, person in charge, or occupant of premises, negligently permit the use of a burner or heater in violation of the standards for venting and ventilation provided in this section.

(D) Division (A) of this section does not apply to any kerosene-fired space or room heater that is equipped with an automatic extinguishing tip-over device, or to any natural gas-fired or liquid petroleum gas-fired space or room heater that is equipped with an oxygen depletion safety shutoff system, and that has its fuel piped from a source outside of the building in which it is located, that are approved by an authoritative source recognized by the state fire marshal in the state fire code adopted by him under section 3737.82 of the Revised Code.

(E) The state fire marshal may make rules to ensure the safe use of unvented kerosene, natural gas, or liquid petroleum gas heaters exempted from division (A) of this section when used in assembly buildings, business buildings, high hazard buildings, institutional buildings, mercantile buildings, and type R-1 and R-2 residential buildings, as these groups of buildings are defined in rules adopted by the board of building standards under section 3781.10 of the Revised Code. No person shall negligently use, or, being the owner, person in charge, or occupant of premises, negligently permit the use of a heater in violation of any rules adopted under this division.

(F) The state fire marshal may make rules prescribing standards for written instructions containing ventilation requirements and warning of any potential fire hazards that may occur in using a kerosene, natural gas, or liquid petroleum gas heater. No person shall sell or offer for sale any kerosene, natural gas, or liquid petroleum gas heater unless the manufacturer provides with the heater written instructions that comply with any rules adopted under this division.

(G) No product labeled as a fuel additive for kerosene heaters and having a flash point below one hundred degrees fahrenheit or thirty-seven and eight-tenths degrees centigrade shall be sold, offered for sale, or used in any kerosene space heater.

(H) No device that prohibits any safety feature on a kerosene, natural gas, or liquid petroleum gas space heater from operating shall be sold, offered for sale, or used in connection with any kerosene, natural gas, or liquid petroleum gas space heater.

(I) No person shall sell or offer for sale any kerosene-fired, natural gas, or liquid petroleum gas-fired heater that is not exempt from division (A) of this section unless it is marked conspicuously by the manufacturer on the container with the phrase “Not Approved For Home Use.”

(J) No person shall use a cabinet-type, liquid petroleum gas-fired heater having a fuel source within the heater, inside any building, except as permitted by the state fire marshal in the state fire code adopted by him under section 3737.82 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-13-1986

(A) There is hereby created in the state treasury the general operations fund. Moneys in the fund shall be used for the purposes specified in sections 3701.04, 3701.344, 3702.20, 3710.15, 3711.16, 3717.45, 3718.06, 3721.02, 3721.022, 3729.07, 3733.43, 3748.04, 3748.05, 3748.07, 3748.12, 3748.13, 3749.04, 3749.07, 4747.04, 4751.04, and 4769.09 of the Revised Code.

(B) The alcohol testing program fund is hereby created in the state treasury. The director of health shall use the fund to administer and enforce the alcohol testing and permit program authorized by section 3701.143 of the Revised Code.

The fund shall receive transfers from the liquor control fund created under section 4301.12 of the Revised Code. All investment earnings of the alcohol testing program fund shall be credited to the fund.

Amended by 129th General Assembly File No. 28, HB 153, § 101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 10-13-2004; 05-05-2005; 2008 HB331 09-01-2008

The director of health may assess the operating funds of the department to pay a share of the department’s administrative costs. The assessments shall be based on a plan that the director develops and submits to the office of budget and management not later than the fifteenth day of July of the fiscal year in which the assessments are to be made. If the office of budget and management determines that the assessments proposed in the plan can be implemented with uniformity and administrative ease, it shall approve the plan within two weeks after it is submitted. Assessments shall be paid from the funds designated in the plan and credited by means of intrastate transfer voucher to the central support indirect fund which is hereby created in the state treasury. The fund shall be administered by the director of health and used to pay administrative costs of the department of health.

Effective Date: 06-30-1995

The department of health may prepare a plan to reduce tobacco use by Ohioans, with emphasis on reducing the use of tobacco by youth, minority and regional populations, pregnant women, and others who may be disproportionately affected by the use of tobacco. The plan may provide for periodic surveys to measure tobacco use and behavior toward tobacco use by Ohioans. If the department prepares a plan, copies of the plan shall be available to the public.

The plan may also describe youth tobacco consumption prevention programs to be eligible for consideration for grants from the department and may set forth the criteria by which applications for grants for such programs will be considered by the department. Programs eligible for consideration may include:

(A) Media campaigns directed to youth to prevent underage tobacco consumption;

(B) School-based education programs to prevent youth tobacco consumption;

(C) Community-based youth programs involving youth tobacco consumption prevention through general youth development;

(D) Retailer education and compliance efforts to prevent youth tobacco consumption;

(E) Mentoring programs designed to prevent or reduce tobacco use by students.

Pursuant to the plan, the department may carry out, or provide funding for private or public agencies to carry out, research and programs related to tobacco use prevention and cessation. If the department provides such funding, the department shall establish an objective process to determine which research and program proposals to fund. When appropriate, proposals for research shall be peer-reviewed. No program shall be carried out or funded by the department unless there is research that indicates that the program is likely to achieve the results desired. All research and programs funded by the department shall be goal-oriented and independently and objectively evaluated annually on whether it is meeting its goals. The department shall contract for such evaluations and shall adopt rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code regarding conflicts of interest in the research and programs it funds.

The department shall endeavor to coordinate its research and programs with the efforts of other agencies of this state to reduce tobacco use by Ohioans. Any state agency that conducts a survey that measures tobacco use or behavior toward tobacco use by Ohioans shall share the results of the survey with the department.

The department may adopt rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as necessary to implement this section.

Effective Date: 2008 HB544 05-06-2008

The tobacco use prevention fund is hereby created in the state treasury. The fund shall consist of money deposited by the treasurer of state into the fund from the liquidation, pursuant to Sub. H.B. 544 of the 127th general assembly, of the former tobacco use prevention and control endowment fund and any gifts, grants, or donations received by the director of health for the purposes of the tobacco use prevention fund. All investment earnings of the fund shall be credited to the fund. The treasurer, in consultation with the director, may invest moneys in the fund in accordance with section 135.143 of the Revised Code. Moneys in the fund shall be used to pay outstanding expenses of the former tobacco use prevention and control foundation at the discretion of the director of health pursuant to Sub. H.B. 544 of the 127th general assembly and shall be used in accordance with section 3701.84 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 2008 HB544 05-06-2008

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Automated external defibrillation” has the same meaning as in section 2305.235 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Emergency medical services organization” has the same meaning as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.

(3) “Emergency medical service provider” means a person who is an “emergency medical technician-basic,” “emergency medical technician-intermediate,” “emergency medical technician-paramedic,” or “first responder” as defined in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.

(4) “Physician” has the same meaning as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.

(5) “Registered nurse” and “licensed practical nurse” have the same meanings as in section 4723.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) A person who possesses an automated external defibrillator shall do all of the following:

(1) Require expected users to complete successfully a course in automated external defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation that is offered or approved by the American heart association or another nationally recognized organization;

(2) Maintain and test the defibrillator according to the manufacturer’s guidelines;

(3) Consult with a physician regarding compliance with the requirements of divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section.

(C) A person who possesses an automated external defibrillator may notify an emergency medical services organization of the location of the defibrillator.

(D) A person who has obtained appropriate training on how to perform automated external defibrillation and has successfully completed a course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation may perform automated external defibrillation, regardless of whether the person is a physician, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, or emergency medical service provider. When automated external defibrillation is not performed as part of an emergency medical services system or at a hospital as defined in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code, an emergency medical services system shall be activated as soon as possible.

Effective Date: 04-10-2001

As used in this section and in section 3701.861 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Anatomic pathology services” means all of the following:

(1) Histopathology or surgical pathology;

(2) Cytopathology;

(3) Hematology;

(4) Subcellular or molecular pathology;

(5) Blood banking services performed by pathologists.

(B) “Assignment of benefits” means the transfer of health care coverage reimbursement benefits or other rights under an insurance policy, subscription contract, or health care plan by an insured, subscriber, or plan enrollee to a health care provider, hospital, or other health care facility.

(C) “Clinical laboratory” means a facility for the biological, microbiological, serological, chemical, immunohematological, hematological, biophysical, cytological, pathological, or other examination of substances derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of any disease, or in the assessment or impairment of the health of human beings.

(D) “Cytopathology” means the microscopic examination of cells from fluids, aspirates, washings, brushings, or smears, including a Papanicolaou smear (PAP smear or test).

(E) “Hematology” means the microscopic evaluation of bone marrow aspirates and biopsies performed by a physician or under the supervision of a physician and peripheral blood smears when the attending or treating physician or technologist requests that a blood smear be reviewed by a pathologist.

(F) “Histologic processing” means fixation, processing, embedding, microtomy, and other special staining, including histochemical or immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridization of clinical human tissues or cells, for pathological examination.

(G) “Histopathology” or “surgical pathology” means the gross and microscopic examination and histologic processing of organ tissue performed by a physician or under the supervision of a physician.

(H) “Insurer” means a person authorized under Title XXXIX of the Revised Code to engage in the business of insurance in this state, a health insuring corporation, or an entity that is self-insured and provides benefits to its employees or members.

(I) “Physician” means an individual authorized by Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery, osteopathic medicine and surgery, or podiatric medicine and surgery.

(J) “Referring clinical laboratory” means a clinical laboratory that refers a patient specimen to another clinical laboratory for an anatomic pathology service, but excludes a laboratory in the office of one or more physicians that refers a specimen and does not perform the professional component of the anatomic pathology service, as that component is defined in section 4731.72 of the Revised Code.

(K) “Subcellular or molecular pathology” means the assessment of a patient specimen for the detection, localization, measurement, or analysis of one or more protein or nucleic acid targets performed or interpreted by or under supervision of a pathologist.

Effective Date: 2008 HB493 04-07-2009

(A) No clinical laboratory shall present or cause to be presented a claim, bill, or demand for payment for anatomic pathology services to any person or entity other than the following:

(1) The patient who receives the services or another individual, such as a parent, spouse, or guardian, who is responsible for the patient’s bills;

(2) A responsible insurer or other third-party payor of a patient who receives the services;

(3) A hospital, public health clinic, or not-for-profit health clinic ordering the services;

(4) A referring clinical laboratory;

(5) A governmental agency or any person acting on behalf of a governmental agency;

(6) A physician who is permitted to bill for the services under division (D) of section 4731.72 of the Revised Code.

(B) Nothing in this section shall be construed to do either of the following:

(1) Mandate the assignment of benefits for anatomic pathology services;

(2) Prohibit a clinical laboratory that provides anatomic pathology services from billing a referring clinical laboratory for anatomic pathology services in instances in which the referring clinical laboratory sends one or more samples to the clinical laboratory for purposes of having a specialist perform analysis, consultation, or histologic processing.

Effective Date: 2008 HB493 04-07-2009

The governor may authorize the department of health to enter into an agreement on behalf of the state with the United States secretary of health, education, and welfare whereby the department may serve as the agency for review of proposed capital expenditures by health care facilities pursuant to Section1122Public Law 92-603 , 42 U.S.C. 1320a-1, and the regulations adopted thereunder. Such agreement shall be subject to and include the following terms and conditions:

(A) All applications, notices, requests for information, and other official communications shall be on written forms prescribed by the director of health and approved by the public health council.

(B) The council, subject to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall propose, modify, amend, and adopt rules, standards, guidelines, and official policies which are consistent with federal law, as it deems necessary to implement the capital expenditures review program.

(C) The director shall make all findings and recommendations required by federal law and shall give due consideration to the findings, reviews, and comments of areawide health planning agencies performing reviews pursuant to section 314(b)(2) of the “Public Health Service Act,” 42 U.S.C. 246, or the appropriate health systems agency.

(D) The findings and recommendations of the director shall be in writing and shall clearly specify the provisions of the state health facilities plan with which any application is found to be inconsistent. Any applicant adversely affected by the findings and recommendations of the director may request a hearing before the council pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The findings and recommendations of the council are an adjudication as defined in Chapter 119. of the Revised Code and may be appealed as provided in that chapter.

Effective Date: 08-26-1975

Effective Date: 09-05-2001

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Applicant” means both of the following:

(a) A person who is under final consideration for appointment to or employment with a home health agency in a position as a person responsible for the care, custody, or control of a child;

(b) A person who is under final consideration for employment with a home health agency in a full-time, part-time, or temporary position that involves providing direct care to an older adult. With regard to persons providing direct care to older adults, “applicant” does not include a person who provides direct care as a volunteer without receiving or expecting to receive any form of remuneration other than reimbursement for actual expenses.

(2) “Criminal records check” and “older adult” have the same meanings as in section 109.572 of the Revised Code.

(3) “Home health agency” means a person or government entity, other than a nursing home, residential care facility, or hospice care program, that has the primary function of providing any of the following services to a patient at a place of residence used as the patient’s home:

(a) Skilled nursing care;

(b) Physical therapy;

(c) Speech-language pathology;

(d) Occupational therapy;

(e) Medical social services;

(f) Home health aide services.

(4) “Home health aide services” means any of the following services provided by an individual employed with or contracted for by a home health agency:

(a) Hands-on bathing or assistance with a tub bath or shower;

(b) Assistance with dressing, ambulation, and toileting;

(c) Catheter care but not insertion;

(d) Meal preparation and feeding.

(5) “Hospice care program” has the same meaning as in section 3712.01 of the Revised Code.

(6) “Medical social services” means services provided by a social worker under the direction of a patient’s attending physician.

(7) “Minor drug possession offense” has the same meaning as in section 2925.01 of the Revised Code.

(8) “Nursing home,” “residential care facility,” and “skilled nursing care” have the same meanings as in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code.

(9) “Occupational therapy” has the same meaning as in section 4755.04 of the Revised Code.

(10) “Physical therapy” has the same meaning as in section 4755.40 of the Revised Code.

(11) “Social worker” means a person licensed under Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code to practice as a social worker or independent social worker.

(12) “Speech-language pathology” has the same meaning as in section 4753.01 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) Except as provided in division (I) of this section, the chief administrator of a home health agency shall request the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation to conduct a criminal records check with respect to each applicant. If the position may involve both responsibility for the care, custody, or control of a child and provision of direct care to an older adult, the chief administrator shall request that the superintendent conduct a single criminal records check for the applicant. If an applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under this division does not present proof of having been a resident of this state for the five-year period immediately prior to the date upon which the criminal records check is requested or does not provide evidence that within that five-year period the superintendent has requested information about the applicant from the federal bureau of investigation in a criminal records check, the chief administrator shall request that the superintendent obtain information from the federal bureau of investigation as a part of the criminal records check for the applicant. Even if an applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under this division presents proof that the applicant has been a resident of this state for that five-year period, the chief administrator may request that the superintendent include information from the federal bureau of investigation in the criminal records check.

(2) Any person required by division (B)(1) of this section to request a criminal records check shall provide to each applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under that division a copy of the form prescribed pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code and a standard impression sheet prescribed pursuant to division (C)(2) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code, obtain the completed form and impression sheet from each applicant, and forward the completed form and impression sheet to the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation at the time the chief administrator requests a criminal records check pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section.

(3) An applicant who receives pursuant to division (B)(2) of this section a copy of the form prescribed pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code and a copy of an impression sheet prescribed pursuant to division (C)(2) of that section and who is requested to complete the form and provide a set of fingerprint impressions shall complete the form or provide all the information necessary to complete the form and shall provide the impression sheets with the impressions of the applicant’s fingerprints. If an applicant, upon request, fails to provide the information necessary to complete the form or fails to provide fingerprint impressions, the home health agency shall not employ that applicant for any position for which a criminal records check is required by division (B)(1) of this section.

(C)(1) Except as provided in rules adopted by the department of health in accordance with division (F) of this section and subject to division (C)(3) of this section, no home health agency shall employ a person as a person responsible for the care, custody, or control of a child if the person previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the following:

(a) A violation of section 2903.01, 2903.02, 2903.03, 2903.04, 2903.11, 2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.16, 2903.21, 2903.34, 2905.01, 2905.02, 2905.05, 2907.02, 2907.03, 2907.04, 2907.05, 2907.06, 2907.07, 2907.08, 2907.09, 2907.21, 2907.22, 2907.23, 2907.25, 2907.31, 2907.32, 2907.321, 2907.322, 2907.323, 2911.01, 2911.02, 2911.11, 2911.12, 2919.12, 2919.22, 2919.24, 2919.25, 2923.12, 2923.13, 2923.161, 2925.02, 2925.03, 2925.04, 2925.05, 2925.06, or 3716.11 of the Revised Code, a violation of section 2905.04 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to July 1, 1996, a violation of section 2919.23 of the Revised Code that would have been a violation of section 2905.04 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to July 1, 1996, had the violation been committed prior to that date, a violation of section 2925.11 of the Revised Code that is not a minor drug possession offense, or felonious sexual penetration in violation of former section 2907.12 of the Revised Code;

(b) A violation of an existing or former law of this state, any other state, or the United States that is substantially equivalent to any of the offenses listed in division (C)(1)(a) of this section.

(2) Except as provided in rules adopted by the department of health in accordance with division (F) of this section and subject to division (C)(3) of this section, no home health agency shall employ a person in a position that involves providing direct care to an older adult if the person previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the following:

(a) A violation of section 2903.01, 2903.02, 2903.03, 2903.04, 2903.11, 2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.16, 2903.21, 2903.34, 2905.01, 2905.02, 2905.11, 2905.12, 2907.02, 2907.03, 2907.05, 2907.06, 2907.07, 2907.08, 2907.09, 2907.12, 2907.25, 2907.31, 2907.32, 2907.321, 2907.322, 2907.323, 2911.01, 2911.02, 2911.11, 2911.12, 2911.13, 2913.02, 2913.03, 2913.04, 2913.11, 2913.21, 2913.31, 2913.40, 2913.43, 2913.47, 2913.51, 2919.25, 2921.36, 2923.12, 2923.13, 2923.161, 2925.02, 2925.03, 2925.11, 2925.13, 2925.22, 2925.23, or 3716.11 of the Revised Code.

(b) A violation of an existing or former law of this state, any other state, or the United States that is substantially equivalent to any of the offenses listed in division (C)(2)(a) of this section.

(3)(a) A home health agency may employ conditionally an applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under division (B) of this section as a person responsible for the care, custody, or control of a child until the criminal records check regarding the applicant required by this section is completed and the agency receives the results of the criminal records check. If the results of the criminal records check indicate that, pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section, the applicant does not qualify for employment, the agency shall release the applicant from employment unless the agency chooses to employ the applicant pursuant to division (F) of this section.

(b)(i) A home health agency may employ conditionally an applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under division (B) of this section in a position that involves providing direct care to an older adult or in a position that involves both responsibility for the care, custody, and control of a child and the provision of direct care to older adults prior to obtaining the results of a criminal records check regarding the individual, provided that the agency shall request a criminal records check regarding the individual in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section not later than five business days after the individual begins conditional employment. In the circumstances described in division (I)(2) of this section, a home health agency may employ conditionally in a position that involves providing direct care to an older adult an applicant who has been referred to the home health agency by an employment service that supplies full-time, part-time, or temporary staff for positions involving the direct care of older adults and for whom, pursuant to that division, a criminal records check is not required under division (B) of this section. In the circumstances described in division (I)(4) of this section, a home health agency may employ conditionally in a position that involves both responsibility for the care, custody, and control of a child and the provision of direct care to older adults an applicant who has been referred to the home health agency by an employment service that supplies full-time, part-time, or temporary staff for positions involving both responsibility for the care, custody, and control of a child and the provision of direct care to older adults and for whom, pursuant to that division, a criminal records check is not required under division (B) of this section.

(ii) A home health agency that employs an individual conditionally under authority of division (C)(3)(b)(i) of this section shall terminate the individual’s employment if the results of the criminal records check requested under division (B)(1) of this section or described in division (I)(2) or (4) of this section, other than the results of any request for information from the federal bureau of investigation, are not obtained within the period ending thirty days after the date the request is made. Regardless of when the results of the criminal records check are obtained, if the individual was employed conditionally in a position that involves the provision of direct care to older adults and the results indicate that the individual has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (C)(2) of this section, or if the individual was employed conditionally in a position that involves both responsibility for the care, custody, and control of a child and the provision of direct care to older adults and the results indicate that the individual has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, the agency shall terminate the individual’s employment unless the agency chooses to employ the individual pursuant to division (F) of this section. Termination of employment under this division shall be considered just cause for discharge for purposes of division (D)(2) of section 4141.29 of the Revised Code if the individual makes any attempt to deceive the agency about the individual’s criminal record.

(D)(1) Each home health agency shall pay to the bureau of criminal identification and investigation the fee prescribed pursuant to division (C)(3) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code for each criminal records check conducted in accordance with that section upon the request pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section of the chief administrator of the home health agency.

(2) A home health agency may charge an applicant a fee for the costs it incurs in obtaining a criminal records check under this section, unless the medical assistance program established under Chapter 5111. of the Revised Code reimburses the agency for the costs. A fee charged under division (D)(2) of this section shall not exceed the amount of fees the agency pays under division (D)(1) of this section. If a fee is charged under division (D)(2) of this section, the agency shall notify the applicant at the time of the applicant’s initial application for employment of the amount of the fee and that, unless the fee is paid, the agency will not consider the applicant for employment.

(E) The report of any criminal records check conducted by the bureau of criminal identification and investigation in accordance with section 109.572 of the Revised Code and pursuant to a request made under division (B)(1) of this section is not a public record for the purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code and shall not be made available to any person other than the following:

(1) The individual who is the subject of the criminal records check or the individual’s representative;

(2) The home health agency requesting the criminal records check or its representative;

(3) The administrator of any other facility, agency, or program that provides direct care to older adults that is owned or operated by the same entity that owns or operates the home health agency;

(4) Any court, hearing officer, or other necessary individual involved in a case dealing with a denial of employment of the applicant or dealing with employment or unemployment benefits of the applicant;

(5) Any person to whom the report is provided pursuant to, and in accordance with, division (I)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section.

(F) The department of health shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section. The rules shall specify circumstances under which the home health agency may employ a person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense listed or described in division (C)(1) of this section but who meets standards in regard to rehabilitation set by the department or employ a person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense listed or described in division (C)(2) of this section but meets personal character standards set by the department.

(G) Any person required by division (B)(1) of this section to request a criminal records check shall inform each person, at the time of initial application for employment that the person is required to provide a set of fingerprint impressions and that a criminal records check is required to be conducted and satisfactorily completed in accordance with section 109.572 of the Revised Code if the person comes under final consideration for appointment or employment as a precondition to employment for that position.

(H) In a tort or other civil action for damages that is brought as the result of an injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by an individual who a home health agency employs in a position that involves providing direct care to older adults, all of the following shall apply:

(1) If the agency employed the individual in good faith and reasonable reliance on the report of a criminal records check requested under this section, the agency shall not be found negligent solely because of its reliance on the report, even if the information in the report is determined later to have been incomplete or inaccurate;

(2) If the agency employed the individual in good faith on a conditional basis pursuant to division (C)(3)(b) of this section, the agency shall not be found negligent solely because it employed the individual prior to receiving the report of a criminal records check requested under this section;

(3) If the agency in good faith employed the individual according to the personal character standards established in rules adopted under division (F) of this section, the agency shall not be found negligent solely because the individual prior to being employed had been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense listed or described in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section.

(I)(1) The chief administrator of a home health agency is not required to request that the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation conduct a criminal records check of an applicant for a position that involves the provision of direct care to older adults if the applicant has been referred to the agency by an employment service that supplies full-time, part-time, or temporary staff for positions involving the direct care of older adults and both of the following apply:

(a) The chief administrator receives from the employment service or the applicant a report of the results of a criminal records check regarding the applicant that has been conducted by the superintendent within the one-year period immediately preceding the applicant’s referral;

(b) The report of the criminal records check demonstrates that the person has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense listed or described in division (C)(2) of this section, or the report demonstrates that the person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one or more of those offenses, but the home health agency chooses to employ the individual pursuant to division (F) of this section.

(2) The chief administrator of a home health agency is not required to request that the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation conduct a criminal records check of an applicant for a position that involves providing direct care to older adults and may employ the applicant conditionally in a position of that nature as described in this division, if the applicant has been referred to the agency by an employment service that supplies full-time, part-time, or temporary staff for positions involving the direct care of older adults and if the chief administrator receives from the employment service or the applicant a letter from the employment service that is on the letterhead of the employment service, dated, and signed by a supervisor or another designated official of the employment service and that states that the employment service has requested the superintendent to conduct a criminal records check regarding the applicant, that the requested criminal records check will include a determination of whether the applicant has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any offense listed or described in division (C)(2) of this section, that, as of the date set forth on the letter, the employment service had not received the results of the criminal records check, and that, when the employment service receives the results of the criminal records check, it promptly will send a copy of the results to the home health agency. If a home health agency employs an applicant conditionally in accordance with this division, the employment service, upon its receipt of the results of the criminal records check, promptly shall send a copy of the results to the home health agency, and division (C)(3)(b) of this section applies regarding the conditional employment.

(3) The chief administrator of a home health agency is not required to request that the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation conduct a criminal records check of an applicant for a position that involves both responsibility for the care, custody, and control of a child and the provision of direct care to older adults if the applicant has been referred to the agency by an employment service that supplies full-time, part-time, or temporary staff for positions involving both responsibility for the care, custody, and control of a child and the provision of direct care to older adults and both of the following apply:

(a) The chief administrator receives from the employment service or applicant a report of a criminal records check of the type described in division (I)(1)(a) of this section;

(b) The report of the criminal records check demonstrates that the person has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense listed or described in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, or the report demonstrates that the person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one or more of those offenses, but the home health agency chooses to employ the individual pursuant to division (F) of this section.

(4) The chief administrator of a home health agency is not required to request that the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation conduct a criminal records check of an applicant for a position that involves both responsibility for the care, custody, and control of a child and the provision of direct care to older adults and may employ the applicant conditionally in a position of that nature as described in this division, if the applicant has been referred to the agency by an employment service that supplies full-time, part-time, or temporary staff for positions involving both responsibility for the care, custody, and control of a child and the direct care of older adults and if the chief administrator receives from the employment service or the applicant a letter from the employment service that is on the letterhead of the employment service, dated, and signed by a supervisor or another designated official of the employment service and that states that the employment service has requested the superintendent to conduct a criminal records check regarding the applicant, that the requested criminal records check will include a determination of whether the applicant has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any offense listed or described in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, that, as of the date set forth on the letter, the employment service had not received the results of the criminal records check, and that, when the employment service receives the results of the criminal records check, it promptly will send a copy of the results to the home health agency. If a home health agency employs an applicant conditionally in accordance with this division, the employment service, upon its receipt of the results of the criminal records check, promptly shall send a copy of the results to the home health agency, and division (C)(3)(b) of this section applies regarding the conditional employment.

Effective Date: 06-29-2004; 04-06-2007

(A) There is hereby re-created a foundation as described in section 170 of the “Internal Revenue Code of 1986,” 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C. 1, as amended, which shall be known as the Ohio medical quality foundation. The foundation shall be administered by thirteen trustees, one of whom shall be the director of health and the remaining twelve of whom shall be appointed by the governor within ninety days of July 21, 1994.

(B) Five of the appointed trustees shall hold the degree of doctor of medicine; of those, two shall be appointed to an initial term of three years, one shall be appointed for an initial term of four years, and two shall be appointed for an initial term of five years. Four of the appointed trustees shall be representatives of hospitals; of those, one shall be appointed for an initial term of three years, one shall be appointed for an initial term of five years, and two shall be appointed to an initial term of four years. Two of the appointed trustees shall hold the degree of doctor of osteopathic medicine; of those, one shall be appointed for an initial term of four years and one shall be appointed to an initial term of five years. One of the appointed trustees shall hold the degree of doctor of podiatric medicine and shall be appointed for a term of three years. Thereafter, all trustees appointed by the governor shall be appointed to terms of three years.

(C) The trustees shall act by majority vote with seven trustees constituting a quorum for the transaction of any business or the exercise of any power of the foundation.

(D) All money received by the foundation shall be held in trust by a corporate trustee selected by the foundation trustees, which selection may be changed from time to time. The corporate trustee shall invest, manage, and account for the money held in trust, subject to the approval of the foundation trustees. All investment income shall be credited to the foundation trust funds. All expenses of administration of the foundation shall be charged to the foundation trust funds.

(E) The trustees may:

(1) Adopt rules and bylaws consistent with subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(2) Employ a staff and retain or contract with attorneys, financial consultants, and accounting experts as are necessary in its judgment to carry out this section;

(3) Seek and accept funding from any private or public source for the conduct of its business.

(F) In a manner consistent with federal income tax exemption status under subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, the foundation shall fund activities to improve the quality of medical care rendered to the public. The trustees of the money in the foundation trust may fund the following:

(1) Programs approved under criteria established under section 4731.25 of the Revised Code;

(2) Programs designed to improve the quality of graduate medical education;

(3) Programs designed to improve risk management and quality assurance in hospitals, as defined in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code, and in outpatient settings including physician offices;

(4) Other programs, meetings, and educational seminars that are designed to improve the quality of medical care in Ohio and are determined by the trustees to be consistent with this section.

(G) The foundation may be organized as a nonprofit corporation formed under Chapter 1702. of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

See 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, §4.

There is hereby created in the department of health the council on stroke prevention and education. The department shall, to the extent funds are available, provide office space and staff assistance for the council.

Effective Date: 02-13-2001

(A) The membership of the council on stroke prevention and education shall consist of one representative of each of the following:

(1) Brain injury association of Ohio;

(2) Ohio academy of family physicians;

(3) American college of emergency physicians Ohio chapter;

(4) Ohio chapter of the American college of cardiology;

(5) Ohio state neurosurgical society;

(6) Ohio heart and vascular research foundation;

(7) Ohio geriatrics society;

(8) Ohio nurses association;

(9) Ohio association of rehabilitation facilities;

(10) Ohio hospital association;

(11) Northeast Ohio stroke association;

(12) American heart association Ohio valley affiliate;

(13) American association of retired persons Ohio office;

(14) Ohio department of health;

(15) Ohio commission on minority health;

(16) Ohio state medical association;

(17) Ohio osteopathic association;

(18) Ohio physical therapy association;

(19) A university research facility in Ohio specializing in biotechnology;

(20) A health insuring corporation, as defined in section 1751.01 of the Revised Code;

(21) A small employer, as defined in section 3924.01 of the Revised Code;

(22) An employer that provides health benefits to its employees through a self-insurance program, as defined in section 3959.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) The director of health shall appoint the members of the council. The director shall request from each entity listed in division (A) of this section a list of three persons qualified to serve as members of the council. In making appointments to the council, the director shall select one member from the list submitted by each entity. If the director does not receive a list from an entity not later than sixty days after making a request, the director shall appoint a member to serve as the representative of that entity. The director shall appoint as members of the council no fewer than six persons who are authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(C) The director of health shall appoint the chair and vice-chair of the council from among its members.

Effective Date: 02-13-2001

Members of the council on stroke prevention and education shall serve without compensation, but shall, to the extent funds are available, be reimbursed by the department of health for the actual and necessary expenses they incur in the performance of their official duties. A member may serve until a replacement is appointed by the director of health. Replacement members shall be appointed in the same manner as the initial members.

Effective Date: 02-13-2001

(A) The council on stroke prevention and education shall, to the extent funds are available, do all of the following:

(1) Develop and implement a comprehensive statewide public education program on stroke prevention, targeted to high-risk populations and to geographic areas where there is a high incidence of stroke, including information developed or compiled by the council on all of the following:

(a) Healthy lifestyle practices that reduce the risk of stroke;

(b) Signs and symptoms of stroke and action to be taken when signs occur;

(c) Determinants of high-quality health care for stroke;

(d) Other information the council considers appropriate for inclusion in the public education program.

(2) Develop or compile for primary care physicians recommendations that address risk factors for stroke, appropriate screening for risk factors, early signs of stroke, and treatment strategies;

(3) Develop or compile for physicians and emergency health care providers recommendations on the initial treatment of stroke;

(4) Develop or compile for physicians and other health care providers recommendations on the long-term treatment of stroke;

(5) Develop or compile for physicians, long-term care providers, and rehabilitation providers recommendations on rehabilitation of stroke patients;

(6) Take other actions consistent with the purpose of the council to ensure that the public and health care providers are informed with regard to the most effective treatment strategies for stroke prevention and treatment.

(B) The council may use information developed or made available by other public or private entities to meet the requirements of division (A) of this section.

(C) The department of health shall make information developed or compiled by the council available to the public and disseminate to the appropriate persons the recommendations developed or compiled by the council.

Effective Date: 02-13-2001

(A) The council on stroke prevention and education shall meet at the call of the chair to conduct its official business.

(B) A majority of the voting members of the council constitutes a quorum. The council may take action only by affirmative vote of a majority of a quorum.

Effective Date: 02-13-2001

The council on stroke prevention and education shall, to the extent funds are available, prepare a report describing the actions the council has taken under section 3701.903 of the Revised Code. The report may include recommendations as the council deems appropriate. The council shall submit the report to the governor, the director of health, the president and minority leader of the senate, and the speaker and minority leader of the house of representatives not later than June 1, 2002.

Effective Date: 02-13-2001

After the issuance of the report required by section 3701.905 of the Revised Code, the Council shall meet at least once annually, at the call of the chair, to review and make amendments as necessary to the recommendations developed or compiled by the council under division (A) of section 3701.903 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-13-2001

The council on stroke prevention and education is exempt from the requirements of section 101.84 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-13-2001

The department of health shall make available to the public a toll-free patient safety telephone line. The department may make the toll-free patient safety telephone line available by maintaining a toll-free telephone line specifically for accepting calls regarding patient safety or by using a toll-free telephone line that the department maintains for accepting calls regarding other matters.

The department shall accept calls placed through the toll-free patient safety telephone line by any person seeking to report an action or failure to act in the provision of health care that the person in good faith believes has resulted in or is likely to result in harm to a patient. This section shall not be used by the department to accept calls pertaining to a home, as defined in section 3721.10 of the Revised Code.

A person who makes a report under this section is not required to provide any information to the department that could reveal the person’s identity. Information provided by a person under this section is not a public record as defined in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 04-10-2001

Effective Date: 09-08-1995

Effective Date: 03-22-2001

Repealed by 129th General Assembly File No. 39, SB 171, § 2, eff. 6/30/2011.

Effective Date: 09-05-2001

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Amended by 128th General Assembly ch. 7, SB 79, § 1, eff. 10/6/2009.

Effective Date: 03-21-2006; 03-30-2007

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 03-21-2006

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Amended by 128th General Assembly ch. 7, SB 79, § 1, eff. 10/6/2009.

Effective Date: 03-21-2006

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Amended by 128th General Assembly ch. 7, SB 79, § 1, eff. 10/6/2009.

Effective Date: 03-21-2006

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 03-21-2006

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 03-21-2006

Repealed by 128th General Assembly File No. 9, HB 1, § 105.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 03-21-2006

Effective Date: 03-28-1985

Effective Date: 09-08-1995

(A) Whoever violates division (C) of section 3701.23, division (C) of section 3701.232, division (C) of section 3701.24, division (B) of section 3701.25, division (I) of section 3701.262, division (D) of section 3701.263, or sections 3701.46 to 3701.55 of the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense; on each subsequent offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.

(B) Whoever violates section 3701.82 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

(C) Whoever violates section 3701.352 or 3701.81 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.

Effective Date: 02-12-2004