(1) The department has, in addition to all other powers and duties imposed upon it by law, the powers and duties provided in this section as follows:
To close theaters, schools, and other public places, and to forbid gatherings of peoplewhen necessary to protect the public health;
(I) To establish and enforce minimum general sanitary standards as to the quality ofwastes discharged upon land and the quality of fertilizer derived from excreta of human beings or from the sludge of sewage disposal plants.
(II) The phrase "minimum general sanitary standards" as used in this section means the minimum standards reasonably consistent with assuring adequate protection of the public health. The word "standards" as used in this section means standards reasonably designed to promote and protect the public health.
(c) (I) To collect, compile, and tabulate reports of marriages, dissolution of marriages, declaration of invalidity of marriages, births, deaths, and morbidity and to require any person having information with regard to the same to make such reports and submit such information as the board shall by rule or regulation provide.
(II) For the purposes of this paragraph (c), the board is authorized to require reporting of morbidity and mortality in accordance with the provisions of section 25-1-122.
To regulate the disposal, transportation, interment, and disinterment of the dead;
(I) To establish, maintain, and approve chemical, bacteriological, and biological laboratories, and to conduct such laboratory investigations and examinations as it may deem necessary or proper for the protection of the public health.
(II) The department shall transmit all fees received by the department in connection with the laboratories established pursuant to this paragraph (e), with the exception of fees received pursuant to part 10 of article 4 of this title that are credited to the newborn screening and genetic counseling cash funds created in section 25-4-1006 (1), to the state treasurer, who shall deposit them in the laboratory cash fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury. The state treasurer shall credit all interest earned from the revenues in the fund to the fund. At the end of each fiscal year, the unencumbered balance of the fund remains in the fund. The revenues in the fund are subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly to the department to carry out its duties under this paragraph (e).
To make, approve, and establish standards for diagnostic tests by chemical, bacteriological, and biological laboratories, and to require such laboratories to conform thereto; and to prepare, distribute, and require the completion of forms or certificates with respect thereto;
To purchase, and to distribute to licensed physicians and veterinarians, with or without charge, as the board may determine upon considerations of emergency or need, such vaccines, serums, toxoids, and other approved biological or therapeutic products as may be necessary for the protection of the public health;
To establish and enforce sanitary standards for the operation and maintenance oforphanages, day care nurseries, foster homes, family care homes, summer camps for children, lodging houses, guest child care facilities as defined in section 26-6-102 (16), C.R.S., public services short-term child care facilities as defined in section 26-6-102 (30), C.R.S., hotels, public conveyances and stations, schools, factories, workshops, industrial and labor camps, recreational resorts and camps, swimming pools, public baths, mobile home parks, and other buildings, centers, and places used for public gatherings;
(I) (A) To establish sanitary standards and make sanitary, sewerage, and health inspections and examinations for charitable, penal, and other public institutions.
As used in this subsection (1)(i), "penal institution" means any local detention center, correctional facility, holding facility, secure residential treatment center, prison, camp, or other facility in which persons are or may be lawfully held in custody, including any public or private facility in Colorado that houses or detains noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings, including any facility that houses or detains minors, on behalf of the federal office of refugee resettlement or the United States immigration and customs enforcement agency.
With respect to the state institutions under the department of human services specified in section 27-90-104 or under the department of corrections specified in section 17-1104.3 (1)(b), such inspections and examinations must be made at least once each year and additional unannounced inspections may be conducted after the annual inspection. Reports on such inspections of institutions under control of the department of human services or the department of corrections must be made to the executive director of the appropriate department for appropriate action, if any.
With respect to any facility that houses or detains noncitizens for purposes of civilimmigration proceedings, such inspections and examinations must be made annually, and additional unannounced inspections may be conducted after the annual inspection.
For the state fiscal year commencing July 1, 2020, for facilities that house or detainnoncitizens as of September 1, 2020, the annual inspection required by subsection (1)(i)(I)(D) of this section must be conducted prior to January 1, 2021, and the department shall produce a report on the inspection prior to January 1, 2021, and provide the report to the governor and members of the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and senate, or any successor committees. This subsection (1)(i)(I)(E) is repealed, effective July 1, 2021.
(II) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (i), the standards adopted pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (i) with regard to space requirements, furnishing requirements, required special use areas or special management housing, and environmental condition requirements, including but not limited to standards pertaining to light, ventilation, temperature, and noise level, shall not apply to any penal institution operated by or under contract with a county or municipality if the penal institution begins operations on or after August 30, 1999, and if the governing body of the jurisdiction operating the penal institution has adopted standards pertaining to such issues for the penal institution pursuant to section 30-11-104 (1), C.R.S., or section 31-15-711.5, C.R.S., whichever is applicable.
(j) (I) To disseminate public health information;
(II) To provide poison control services, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2002, and fiscal years thereafter, on a statewide basis and to provide for the dissemination of information concerning the care and treatment of individuals exposed to poisonous substances pursuant to article 32 of this title;
To establish and enforce standards for exposure to toxic materials in the gaseous,liquid, or solid phase that may be deemed necessary for the protection of public health;
To establish and enforce standards for exposure to environmental conditions, including radiation, that may be deemed necessary for the protection of the public health;
(I) To accept and expend on behalf of and in the name of the state, gifts, donations,and grants for any purpose connected with the work and programs of the department.
(II) Any such property so given shall be held by the state treasurer, but the department shall have the power to direct the disposition of any property so given for any purpose consistent with the terms and conditions under which such gift was created.
To carry out the policies of the state as set forth in part 1 of article 6 of this title withrespect to family planning;
To carry out the policies of this state relating to the "Colorado Health Care CoverageAct" as set forth in parts 1 and 4 of article 16 of title 10, C.R.S.;
To compile and maintain current information necessary to enable the department toanswer any inquiry concerning the proper action to take to counteract, eliminate, or minimize the public health hazards of a hazardous substance incident involving any specific kind of hazardous substance. To make such information available and to facilitate the reporting of hazardous substance incidents, the department shall establish, maintain, and publicize an environmental emergency telephone service that shall be available to the public twenty-four hours each day. With respect to the powers and duties specified in this paragraph (p), the department shall have no rule-making authority and shall avail itself of all available private resources. As used in this paragraph (p), the terms "hazardous substance" and "hazardous substance incident" shall have the meanings ascribed to them in section 29-22-101, C.R.S. The department shall coordinate its activities pursuant to this section with the Colorado state patrol.
(I) To establish and maintain a statewide cancer registry providing for compilationand analysis of appropriate information regarding incidence, diagnosis, treatment, and end results and any other data designed to provide more effective cancer control for the citizens of Colorado.
(II) For the purposes of this paragraph (q), the board is authorized to require reports relating to cancer in accordance with the provisions of section 25-1-122 and to have access to medical records relating to cancer in accordance with the provisions of section 25-1-122.
To operate and maintain a program for children with disabilities to provide and expedite provision of health care services to children who have congenital birth defects or who are the victims of burns or trauma or children who have acquired disabilities;
To annually enter into an agreement with a qualified person to perform necessaryhazardous substance incident response actions when such actions are beyond the ability of the local and state response capabilities. Such response actions may include, but are not limited to, containment, clean-up, and disposal of a hazardous substance. Nothing in this article shall prevent the attorney general's office from pursuing cost recovery against responsible persons.
To operate special health programs for migrant and seasonal farm workers and theirdependent family members and to accept and employ federal and other moneys appropriated to implement such programs;
To carry out the duties prescribed in article 11.5 of title 16, C.R.S., relating to substance abuse in the criminal justice system;
To establish and maintain a statewide gulf war syndrome registry pursuant to part 19 of article 4 of this title providing for compilation and analysis of information regarding incidence, diagnosis, treatment, and treatment outcomes of veterans or family members of veterans suffering from gulf war syndrome;
(I) To operate the office of suicide prevention, which is hereby established in thedivision of prevention services in the department, that serves as the coordinator for crisis and suicide prevention programs throughout the state, including the Colorado suicide prevention plan established in section 25-1.5-112 and the crisis and suicide prevention training grant program established in section 25-1.5-113.
The department is authorized to accept gifts, grants, and donations on behalf of theoffice of suicide prevention. The department shall transmit all such gifts, grants, and donations to the state treasurer who shall credit the same to the suicide prevention coordination cash fund, which fund is hereby created. The fund also consists of any money appropriated or transferred to the fund by the general assembly for the purposes of implementing section 25-1.5-112. Any money remaining in the suicide prevention coordination cash fund at the end of any fiscal year must remain in the fund and must not be transferred or credited to the general fund. The general assembly shall make appropriations from the suicide prevention coordination cash fund for expenditures incurred by the department or the office of suicide prevention in the performance of its duties pursuant to this subsection (1)(w) and section 25-1.5-112.
(A) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), as part of the duties of the officeof suicide prevention, on or before each November 1, the office of suicide prevention shall submit to the chairs of the senate health and human services committee and the house of representatives health, insurance, and environment committee, or their successor committees, and to the members of the joint budget committee, a report listing all crisis and suicide prevention programs in the state and describing the effectiveness of the office of suicide prevention in acting as the coordinator for crisis and suicide prevention programs. For the report submitted in 2013 and each year thereafter, the office of suicide prevention shall include any findings and recommendations it has to improve crisis and suicide prevention in the state.
(B) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2012.)
(IV) The department and the office of suicide prevention may collaborate with the school safety resource center and with each facility licensed or certified pursuant to section 251.5-103 in order to coordinate crisis and suicide prevention services, including relevant training and other services as part of the Colorado suicide prevention plan established in section 25-1.5112. When a facility treats a person who has attempted suicide or exhibits a suicidal gesture, the facility may provide oral and written information or educational materials to the person or, in the case of a minor, to parents, relatives, or other responsible persons to whom the minor will be released, prior to the person's release, regarding warning signs of depression, risk factors of suicide, methods of preventing suicide, available suicide prevention resources, and any other information concerning suicide awareness and prevention. The department and the office of suicide prevention may work with facilities and the Colorado suicide prevention plan to determine whether and where gaps exist in suicide prevention programs and services, including gaps that may be present in:
The information and materials being used and distributed in facilities throughout thestate;
Resources available to persons who attempt suicide or exhibit a suicidal gesture and,when the person is a minor, to parents, relatives, and other responsible persons to whom a minor is released; and
The process for referring persons who attempt suicide or exhibit a suicidal gesture tosuicide prevention services and programs or other appropriate health care providers for treatment.
To implement the state dental loan repayment program created in article 23 of this
title;
To coordinate with the United States secretary of the interior and the United Statessecretary of agriculture to develop resource management plans consistent with this article for federal lands pursuant to 16 U.S.C. sec. 530, 16 U.S.C. sec. 1604, and 43 U.S.C. sec. 1712;
To perform the duties specified in part 6 of article 10 of title 30, C.R.S., relating tothe Colorado coroners standards and training board;
To determine if there is a shortage of drugs critical to the public safety of the peopleof Colorado and declare an emergency for the purpose of preventing the practice of unfair drug pricing as prohibited by section 6-1-714, C.R.S.;
To include on its public website home page a link to forms containing advanceddirectives regarding a person's acceptance or rejection of life-sustaining medical or surgical treatment, which forms are available to be downloaded electronically.
Source: L. 2003: Entire article added with relocations, p. 676, § 2, effective July 1; (1)(y) added, p. 1035, § 7, effective April 17; (1)(z) added, p. 1830, § 2, effective August 6. L. 2005: (1)(aa) added, p. 372, § 1, effective April 22. L. 2007: (1)(h) amended, p. 866, § 4, effective May 14. L. 2010: (1)(i)(I) amended, (SB 10-175), ch. 188, p. 798, § 58, effective April 29; (1)(bb) added, (HB 10-1050), ch. 80, p. 271, § 2, effective August 11. L. 2011: (1)(e) amended, (SB 11-161), ch. 12, p. 34, § 1, effective March 9. L. 2012: (1)(w)(III) amended and (1)(w)(IV) added, (HB 12-1140), ch. 173, p. 619, § 1, effective May 11. L. 2015: (1)(m)(I) amended, (SB 15-247), ch. 165, p. 505, § 3, effective May 8. L. 2016: (1)(h) amended, (SB 16189), ch. 210, p. 769, § 58, effective June 6; (1)(w)(I), (1)(w)(II), and IP(1)(w)(IV) amended, (SB 16-147), ch. 364, p. 1521, § 3, effective June 10. L. 2017: (1)(w)(III)(A) amended, (SB 17056), ch. 33, p. 92, § 1, effective March 16. L. 2018: (1)(w)(I), (1)(w)(II), (1)(w)(III)(A), and IP(1)(w)(IV) amended, (SB 18-272), ch. 333, p. 2005, § 4, effective August 8. L. 2020: (1)(i)(I) amended, (HB 20-1409), ch. 275, p. 1349, § 1, effective July 11.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 25-1-107 (1)(c), (1)(e), (1)(f), (1)(g),
(1)(h), (1)(i), (1)(j), (1)(m), (1)(n), (1)(q), (1)(s), (1)(t), (1)(u), (1)(v), (1)(w), (1)(y), (1)(z),
(1)(aa), (1)(bb), (1)(cc), (1)(ff), (1)(hh), (1)(ii), and (1)(kk) as they existed prior to 2003.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2003 act enacting (1)(y), see section 1 of chapter 145, Session Laws of Colorado 2003. For the legislative declaration in SB 18-272, see section 1 of chapter 333, Session Laws of Colorado 2018. 25-1.5-102. Epidemic and communicable diseases - powers and duties of department - rules - definitions. (1) The department has, in addition to all other powers and duties imposed upon it by law, the powers and duties provided in this section as follows:
(a) (I) To investigate and control the causes of epidemic and communicable diseases affecting the public health.
For the purposes of this paragraph (a), the board shall determine, by rule and regulation, those epidemic and communicable diseases and conditions that are dangerous to the public health. The board is authorized to require reports relating to such designated diseases in accordance with the provisions of section 25-1-122 and to have access to medical records relating to such designated diseases in accordance with the provisions of section 25-1-122.
For the purposes of this paragraph (a), "epidemic diseases" means cases of an illness or condition, communicable or noncommunicable, in excess of normal expectancy, compared to the usual frequency of the illness or condition in the same area, among the specified population, at the same season of the year. A single case of a disease long absent from a population may require immediate investigation.
For the purposes of this paragraph (a), "communicable diseases" means an illnessdue to a specific infectious agent or its toxic products that arises through transmission of that agent or its products from an infected person, animal, or reservoir to a susceptible host, either directly or indirectly through an intermediate plant or animal host, vector, or the inanimate environment.
(b) (I) To investigate and monitor the spread of disease that is considered part of an emergency epidemic as defined in section 24-33.5-703 (4) to determine the extent of environmental contamination resulting from the emergency epidemic, and to rapidly provide epidemiological and environmental information to the governor's expert emergency epidemic response committee, created in section 24-33.5-704.5.
Except as otherwise directed by executive order of the governor, the departmentshall exercise its powers and duties to control epidemic and communicable diseases and protect the public health as set out in this section.
The department may accept and expend federal funds, gifts, grants, and donationsfor the purposes of an emergency epidemic or preparation for an emergency epidemic.
When a public safety worker, emergency medical service provider, peace officer, orstaff member of a detention facility has been exposed to blood or other bodily fluid which there is a reason to believe may be infectious with hepatitis C, the state department and county, district, and municipal public health agencies within their respective jurisdictions shall assist in evaluation and treatment of any involved persons by:
Accessing information on the incident and any persons involved to determine whether a potential exposure to hepatitis C occurred;
Examining and testing such involved persons to determine hepatitis C infection when the fact of an exposure has been established by the state department or county, district, or municipal public health agency;
Communicating relevant information and laboratory test results on the involved persons to such persons' attending physicians or directly to the involved persons if the confidentiality of such information and test results is acknowledged by the recipients and adequately protected, as determined by the state department or county, district, or municipal public health agency; and
Providing counseling to the involved persons on the potential health risks resultingfrom exposure and the available methods of treatment.
The employer of an exposed person shall ensure that relevant information and laboratory test results on the involved person are kept confidential. Such information and laboratory results are considered medical information and protected from unauthorized disclosure.
For purposes of this paragraph (b), "public safety worker" includes, but is not limited to, law enforcement officers, peace officers, and firefighters.
To establish, maintain, and enforce isolation and quarantine, and, in pursuance thereof and for this purpose only, to exercise such physical control over property and the persons of the people within this state as the department may find necessary for the protection of the public health;
To abate nuisances when necessary for the purpose of eliminating sources of epidemic and communicable diseases affecting the public health.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the department shall administer the provisions of this section regardless of an individual's race, religion, gender, ethnicity, national origin, or immigration status.
Source: L. 2003: Entire article added with relocations, p. 680, § 2, effective July 1; IP(1)(b)(IV) amended, p. 1617, § 23, effective August 6. L. 2006, 1st Ex. Sess.: (2) added, p. 25, § 2, effective July 31. L. 2010: IP(1)(b)(IV), (1)(b)(IV)(B), and (1)(b)(IV)(C) amended, (HB 101422), ch. 419, p. 2091, § 86, effective August 11. L. 2013: (1)(b)(I) amended, (HB 13-1300), ch. 316, p. 1687, § 72, effective August 7. L. 2018: (1)(b)(I) amended, (HB 18-1394), ch. 234, p. 1473, § 20, effective August 8.
Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 25-1-107 (1)(a), (1)(a.5), (1)(b), and (1)(d) as they existed prior to 2003.
(2) Amendments to subsection (1)(b)(IV) by House Bill 03-1266 and Senate Bill 03-002 were harmonized.