135.11 - DUTIES OF DEPARTMENT.
135.11 DUTIES OF DEPARTMENT.
The director of public health shall be the head of the "Iowa
Department of Public Health", which shall:
1. Exercise general supervision over the public health, promote
public hygiene and sanitation, prevent substance abuse and unless
otherwise provided, enforce the laws relating to the same.
2. Conduct campaigns for the education of the people in hygiene
and sanitation.
3. Issue monthly health bulletins containing fundamental health
principles and other health data deemed of public interest.
4. Make investigations and surveys in respect to the causes of
disease and epidemics, and the effect of locality, employment, and
living conditions upon the public health. For this purpose the
department may use the services of the experts connected with the
state hygienic laboratory at the state university of Iowa.
5. Establish stations throughout the state for the distribution
of antitoxins and vaccines to physicians, druggists, and other
persons, at cost. All antitoxin and vaccine thus distributed shall
be labeled "Iowa Department of Public Health".
6. Exercise general supervision over the administration and
enforcement of the sexually transmitted diseases and infections law,
chapter 139A, subchapter II.
7. Exercise sole jurisdiction over the disposal and
transportation of the dead bodies of human beings and prescribe the
methods to be used in preparing such bodies for disposal and
transportation. However, the department may approve a request for an
exception to the application of specific embalming and disposition
rules adopted pursuant to this subsection if such rules would
otherwise conflict with tenets and practices of a recognized
religious denomination to which the deceased individual adhered or of
which denomination the deceased individual was a member. The
department shall inform the board of mortuary science of any such
approved exception which may affect services provided by a funeral
director licensed pursuant to chapter 156.
8. Establish, publish, and enforce rules which require companies,
corporations, and other entities to obtain a permit from the
department prior to scattering cremated human remains.
9. Exercise general supervision over the administration and
enforcement of the vital statistics law, chapter 144.
10. Enforce the law relative to chapter 146 and "Health-related
Professions", Title IV, subtitle 3, excluding chapter 155.
11. Establish and maintain divisions as are necessary for the
proper enforcement of the laws administered by the department.
12. Establish, publish, and enforce rules not inconsistent with
law for the enforcement of the provisions of chapters 125 and 155,
and Title IV, subtitle 2, excluding chapter 146 and for the
enforcement of the various laws, the administration and supervision
of which are imposed upon the department.
13. Establish standards for, issue permits for, and exercise
control over the distribution of venereal disease prophylactics
distributed by methods not under the direct supervision of a
physician licensed under chapter 148 or a pharmacist licensed under
chapter 147. Any person selling, offering for sale, or giving away
any venereal disease prophylactics in violation of the standards
established by the department shall be fined not exceeding five
hundred dollars, and the department shall revoke their permit.
14. Administer the statewide public health nursing,
homemaker-home health aide, and senior health programs by approving
grants of state funds to the local boards of health and the county
boards of supervisors and by providing guidelines for the approval of
the grants and allocation of the state funds. Program direction,
evaluation requirements, and formula allocation procedures for each
of the programs shall be established by the department by rule.
15. Administer chapters 125, 136A, 136C, 139A, 142, 142A, 144,
and 147A.
16. Issue an annual report to the governor as provided in section
7E.3, subsection 4.
17. Consult with the office of statewide clinical education
programs at the university of Iowa college of medicine and annually
submit a report to the general assembly by January 15 verifying the
number of physicians in active practice in Iowa by county who are
engaged in providing obstetrical care. To the extent data are
readily available, the report shall include information concerning
the number of deliveries per year by specialty and county, the age of
physicians performing deliveries, and the number of current year
graduates of the university of Iowa college of medicine and the Des
Moines university -- osteopathic medical center entering into
residency programs in obstetrics, gynecology, and family practice.
The report may include additional data relating to access to
obstetrical services that may be available.
18. Administer the statewide maternal and child health program
and the program for children with disabilities by conducting mobile
and regional child health specialty clinics and conducting other
activities to improve the health of low-income women and children and
to promote the welfare of children with actual or potential
conditions which may cause disabilities and children with chronic
illnesses in accordance with the requirements of Tit. V of the
federal Social Security Act. The department shall provide technical
assistance to encourage the coordination and collaboration of state
agencies in developing outreach centers which provide publicly
supported services for pregnant women, infants, and children. The
department shall also, through cooperation and collaborative
agreements with the department of human services and the mobile and
regional child health specialty clinics, establish common intake
proceedings for maternal and child health services. The department
shall work in cooperation with the legislative services agency in
monitoring the effectiveness of the maternal and child health
centers, including the provision of transportation for patient
appointments and the keeping of scheduled appointments.
19. Establish, publish, and enforce rules requiring prompt
reporting of methemoglobinemia, pesticide poisoning, and the
reportable poisonings and illnesses established pursuant to section
139A.21.
20. Collect and maintain reports of pesticide poisonings and
other poisonings, illnesses, or injuries caused by selected chemical
or physical agents, including methemoglobinemia and pesticide and
fertilizer hypersensitivity; and compile and publish, annually, a
statewide and county-by-county profile based on the reports.
21. Adopt rules which require personnel of a licensed hospice, of
a homemaker-home health aide provider agency which receives state
homemaker-home health aide funds, or of an agency which provides
respite care services and receives funds to complete a minimum of two
hours of training concerning acquired immune deficiency
syndrome-related conditions through a program approved by the
department. The rules shall require that new employees complete the
training within six months of initial employment and existing
employees complete the training on or before January 1, 1989.
22. Adopt rules which require all emergency medical services
personnel, firefighters, and law enforcement personnel to complete a
minimum of two hours of training concerning acquired immune
deficiency syndrome-related conditions and the prevention of human
immunodeficiency virus infection.
23. Adopt rules which provide for the testing of a convicted or
alleged offender for the human immunodeficiency virus pursuant to
sections 915.40 through 915.43. The rules shall provide for the
provision of counseling, health care, and support services to the
victim.
24. Establish ad hoc and advisory committees to the director in
areas where technical expertise is not otherwise readily available.
Members may be compensated for their actual and necessary expenses
incurred in the performance of their duties. To encourage health
consumer participation, public members may also receive a per diem as
specified in section 7E.6 if funds are available and the per diem is
determined to be appropriate by the director. Expense moneys paid to
the members shall be paid from funds appropriated to the department.
A majority of the members of such a committee constitutes a quorum.
25. Establish an abuse education review panel for review and
approval of mandatory reporter training curricula for those persons
who work in a position classification that under law makes the
persons mandatory reporters of child or dependent adult abuse and the
position classification does not have a mandatory reporter training
curriculum approved by a licensing or examining board.
26. Establish and administer a substance abuse treatment facility
pursuant to section 135.130.
27. Administer annual grants to county boards of health for the
purpose of conducting programs for the testing of private water
supply wells, the closing of abandoned private water supply wells,
and the renovation or rehabilitation of private water supply wells.
Grants shall be funded through moneys transferred to the department
from the agriculture management account of the groundwater protection
fund pursuant to section 455E.11, subsection 2, paragraph "b",
subparagraph (3), subparagraph division (b). The department shall
adopt rules relating to the awarding of the grants.
28. Establish and administer, if sufficient funds are available
to the department, a program to assess and forecast health workforce
supply and demand in the state for the purpose of identifying current
and projected workforce needs. The program may collect, analyze, and
report data that furthers the purpose of the program. The program
shall not release information that permits identification of
individual respondents of program surveys.
29. In consultation with the advisory committee for perinatal
guidelines, develop and maintain the statewide perinatal program
based on the recommendations of the American academy of pediatrics
and the American college of obstetricians and gynecologists contained
in the most recent edition of the guidelines for perinatal care, and
shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 17A to implement those
recommendations. Hospitals within the state shall determine whether
to participate in the statewide perinatal program, and select the
hospital's level of participation in the program. A hospital having
determined to participate in the program shall comply with the
guidelines appropriate to the level of participation selected by the
hospital.
30. In consultation with the department of corrections, the
antibiotic resistance task force, and the American federation of
state, county and municipal employees, develop educational programs
to increase awareness and utilization of infection control practices
in institutions listed in section 904.102. Section History: Early Form