[Amended 8-10-2009 by Ord. No. 44-2009; 7-27-2015 by Ord. No. 39-2015; 5-28-2019 by Ord. No. 19-2019; 3-27-2023 by Ord. No. 33-2023]
The City Health Officer is appointed by the Mayor and reports to the Community Development Director or his/her designee. Qualifications for this position are experience and training in public health work or an equivalent field. This person shall be or shall become certified by the Pennsylvania Department of State within six months of taking the oath of office.
Within 30 days of appointment, the Health Officer shall take the oath required by members of the Board and shall be the agent of the Board but shall not serve as a member of the Board.
Mayor may appoint, as the principal Health Officer, the manager or chief administrator employed and compensated by a non-profit corporation which may be appointed as a Board of Health. The manager or chief administrator must be a reputable physician with at least five years' experience in the practice of the physician's profession or in public health work, or an equivalent practice or field of medicine, and shall have all the powers, authority and duties prescribed by law upon principal health officers. The Health Officer may delegate any of the responsibilities herein to a physician's assistant, nurse practitioner, or registered nurse within their practice.
The appointed City Health Officer shall have the following powers, duties and responsibilities as prescribed by applicable law, Charter and ordinance, and include but not be limited to the following:
A. Perform the obligations and functions of the City Health Administrator.
B. Perform and/or assign responsibility for restaurant inspections, review inspections, issue citations, and close if necessary.
C. Perform and/or assign responsibility for tattoo parlor inspections, review inspections, issue citations, and close if necessary.
D. Provide inoculations as required.
E. Collaborate with Human Resources Director in workers’ compensation, sick leave, family leave, and/or any other health-related issues.
F. Provide required reports to the state/federal governments.
G. Provide monthly reports to the Board of Health.
H. Assess the health implications in hoarding situations as requested.
I. Attend all regular and special meetings of the Board of Health at the request of the Board, City Council or the Administration.
J. Be available for the prompt performance of the health officer's official duties.
K. Quarantine places of communicable diseases in accordance with law and with the rules and regulations of the Department of Health or of the city board of health.
L. Execute all laws, rules and regulations for the disinfection of quarantined places.
M. Serve written notice on teachers and persons in charge of public, parochial, Sunday and other schools requiring the exclusion of children from school who are suffering from or who reside with individuals who are suffering from communicable diseases.
N. Make sanitary inspections subject to constitutional standards in a similar manner as provided in section 12308 (relating to powers of board of health).
O. Execute the orders of the board of health and all other laws, rules, regulations and orders pertaining to the health officer's office.
P. The Health Officer shall have the power to issue citations for the violation of applicable laws or ordinances.
Q. Serve as the liaison for the City of Reading with the Berks County Health Officer or Health Department or its equivalent, if established by County of Berks.