Except as otherwise provided by law, the department shall have jurisdiction to regulate all matters affecting health in the city of New York and to perform all those functions and operations performed by the city that relate to the health of the people of the city, including but not limited to the mental health, intellectual and developmental disability, alcoholism and substance abuse-related needs of the people of the city. The jurisdiction of the department shall include but not be limited to the following:
a. General functions.
(1) Enforce all provisions of law applicable in the area under the jurisdiction of the department for the preservation of human life, for the care, promotion and protection of health and relative to the necessary health supervision of the purity and wholesomeness of the water supply and the sources thereof. Each inspector or other employee of the department who issues notices of violation shall, for provisions of law that are enforced exclusively by the department, have access at the time that a violation is issued to equipment allowing such person: (a) to determine if such violation is a first-time violation of the applicable provision of law, and (b) if permitted by law, to issue a warning for such violation and to record that such a warning has been issued;
(2) maintain an office in each borough and maintain, furnish and operate in each borough office health centers and health stations or other facilities which may be required from time to time for the preservation of health or the care of the sick;
(3) exercise its functions, powers and duties in the area extending over the city, and over the waters adjacent thereto, within the jurisdiction of the city and within the quarantine limits as established by law;
(4) receive and expend funds made available for public health purposes pursuant to law; and
(5) arrange, with the approval of the mayor, for the rendition of services and operation of facilities by other agencies of the city;
b. Review of public health services and general public health planning.
(1) Develop and submit to the mayor and council a program for the delivery of services for the mentally disabled, including construction and operation of facilities;
(2) determine the needs of the mentally disabled in the city, which determination shall include the review and evaluation of all mental hygiene services and facilities within the department's jurisdiction;
(3) engage in short-range, intermediate-range and long-range mental hygiene planning that reflects the entire array of city needs in the areas of mental health, intellectual and developmental disabilities and alcoholism and substance abuse services within the department's jurisdiction;
(4) implement and administer an inclusive citywide planning process for the delivery of services for people with mental disabilities; and design and incorporate within that planning process, consistent with applicable law, standards and procedures for community participation and communication with the commissioner at the borough and local community level;
(5) establish coordination and cooperation among all providers of services for the mentally disabled, coordinate the department's program with the program of the state department of mental hygiene so that there is a continuity of care among all providers of services, and seek to cooperate by mutual agreement with the state department of mental hygiene and its representatives and with institutions in such department and their representatives in pre-admission screening and in post-hospital care of persons suffering from mental disability;
(6) receive and expend funds made available for the purposes of providing mental health, intellectual and developmental disability and alcoholism and substance abuse related services;
(7) administer the unit responsible for early intervention services pursuant to the public health law; and
(8) in accordance with section five hundred fifty-five of this chapter, determine the public health needs of the city and prepare plans and programs addressing such needs.
c. Supervision of matters affecting public health.
(1) Supervise and control the registration of births, fetal deaths and deaths;
(2) supervise the reporting and control of communicable and chronic diseases and conditions hazardous to life and health; exercise control over and supervise the abatement of nuisances affecting or likely to affect the public health;
(3) make policy and plan for, monitor, evaluate and exercise general supervision over all services and facilities for the mentally disabled within the department's jurisdiction; and exercise general supervisory authority, through the promulgation of appropriate standards consistent with accepted professional practices for the care and treatment of patients within such services and facilities for the mentally disabled within the department's jurisdiction;
(4) except as otherwise provided by law, analyze and monitor hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and homes for the aged, and analyze, evaluate, supervise and regulate clinical laboratories, blood banks, and related facilities providing medical and health services and services ancillary thereto;
(5) to the extent necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the mental hygiene law and other applicable laws and when not inconsistent with any other law, arrange for the visitation, inspection and investigation of all providers of services for the mentally disabled, by the department or otherwise;
(6) conduct such inquiries into services and facilities for the mentally disabled as may be useful in performing the functions of the department, including investigations into individual patient care, and for such purpose the department may exercise the powers set forth in section five hundred fifty-five of this chapter and shall, consistent with the provisions of the mental hygiene law, have access to otherwise confidential patient records, provided such information is requested pursuant to the functions, powers and duties conferred upon the department by law;
(7) supervise and regulate the public health aspects of water supply and sewage disposal and water pollution;
(8) supervise and regulate the public health aspects of the production, processing and distribution of milk, cream and milk products, except for such inspection, regulation and supervision of the sanitary quality of milk and cream distributed, consumed or sold within the city as performed by the New York department of agriculture and markets pursuant to section seventy-one-l of the agriculture and markets law;
(9) supervise and regulate the food and drug supply of the city and other businesses and activities affecting public health in the city, and ensure that such businesses and activities are conducted in a manner consistent with the public interest and by persons with good character, honesty and integrity;
(10) supervise and regulate the removal, transportation and disposal of human remains;
(11) supervise and regulate the public health aspects of ionizing radiation, the handling and disposal of radioactive wastes, and the activities within the city affecting radioactive materials, excluding special nuclear materials in quantities sufficient to form a critical mass; and
(12) in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter and the mental hygiene law, make rules and regulations covering the provision of services by providers of services for the mentally disabled.
d. Promotion or provision of public health services.
(1) Maintain and operate public health centers and clinics as shall be established in the department;
(2) engage in or promote health research for the purpose of improving the quality of medical and health care; in conducting such research, the department shall have the authority to conduct medical audits, to receive reports on forms prepared or prescribed by the department; such information when received by the department shall be kept confidential and used solely for the purpose of medical or scientific research or the improvement of the quality of medical care;
(3) produce, standardize and distribute certain diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic products and conduct laboratory examinations for the diagnosis, prevention and control of disease;
(4) promote or provide for public education on mental disability and the prevention and control of disease;
(5) promote or provide for programs for the prevention and control of disease and for the prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment, social and vocational rehabilitation, special education and training of the mentally disabled;
(6) promote or provide diagnostic and therapeutic services for maternity and child health, family planning, communicable disease, medical rehabilitation and other diseases and conditions affecting public health;
(7) promote or provide medical and health services for school children and the ambulant sick and needy persons of the city;
(8) promote or provide medical and health services for the incarcerated individuals of prisons maintained and operated by the city;
(9) within the amounts appropriated therefor, enter into contracts for the rendition or operation of services and facilities for the mentally disabled on a per capita basis or otherwise, including contracts executed pursuant to subdivision e of section 41.19 of the mental hygiene law;
(10) within the amounts appropriated therefor, execute such programs and maintain such facilities for the mentally disabled as may be authorized under such appropriations; and
(11) use the services and facilities of public or private voluntary institutions whenever practical, and encourage all providers of services to cooperate with or participate in the program of services for the mentally disabled, whether by contract or otherwise.
e. Other functions.
(1) Prior to the sale, closing, abandonment of a city hospital or transfer of a city hospital to any other hospital or facility, hold a public hearing with reference to such proposed sale, closing, abandonment or transfer; publish notice of such public hearing in the City Record and in such daily newspaper or newspapers published in the city of New York as shall be selected by the commissioner, such publication to take place not less than ten days nor more than thirty days prior to the date fixed for the hearing; and adjourn such hearing from time to time, if necessary, in order to allow persons interested to attend or express their views;
(2) submit all materials required by the mental hygiene law for purposes of state reimbursement;
(3) provide for membership on such state or federally authorized committees as may be appropriate to the discharge of the department's functions, powers and duties; and
(4) perform such other acts as may be necessary and proper to carry out the provisions of this chapter and the purposes of the mental hygiene law.
(Am. L.L. 2015/013, 2/5/2015, eff. 2/5/2015; Am. 2021 N.Y. Laws Ch. 322, 8/2/2021, eff. 8/2/2021; Am. L.L. 2022/014, 1/9/2022, eff. 1/9/2022; Am. L.L. 2021/159, 12/24/2021, eff. 6/22/2022)