Update Disease Control Statutes

The act amends various statutes governing the operations of the department of public health and environment (department) regarding disease control. Specifically, sections 1 through 9 of the act:

• Repeal the governor's expert emergency epidemic response committee (GEEERC);
• Direct the state board of health to review and amend, as necessary, the department's emergency response and recovery plan every 3 years; and
• Require the executive director of the department or, if the executive director is not the chief medical officer, the chief medical officer to convene a group of subject matter experts to develop crisis standards of care to be used in responding to a public health emergency.

Sections 10 through 18 modify school immunization provisions as follows to:

• Allow the records of a physician assistant to be used to create an official certificate of immunization for a student;
• Extend the period within which a student whose certificate of immunization is not up to date to comply with immunization requirements to attend school from 14 days after notice of noncompliance is received to 30 days after receipt of the noncompliance notice;
• Extend from February 15 to April 15 the deadline for a school to distribute the annual letter to parents specifying the school's aggregate immunization rates and the immunization requirements applicable for the next school year;
• Direct the state board of health, in adopting rules establishing immunization requirements, to take into consideration, as appropriate and in addition to the recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices, the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American College of Physicians;
• For purposes of out-of-state campers attending a licensed children's residential camp, allow the camp to maintain an out-of-state immunization record for an out-of-state camper, rather than the state's official certificate of immunization;
• Remove gendered pronouns and replace them with gender-neutral language; and
• Repeal the requirement for schools to notify the department and the local public health agency when a student is suspended or expelled from school for noncompliance with immunization requirements.

Section 19 extends from July 15 to September 15 the date by which the department is required to submit to the general assembly an annual report summarizing health-care-associated infections data received from health facilities in the state.

Section 20 repeals the requirement for certain health-care providers to offer a hepatitis C screening test to individuals born between 1945 and 1965 and instead directs the state board of health to adopt standards, consistent with recommendations from the federal centers for disease control and prevention, for hepatitis C screening tests.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)