(A) The Director of the county’s Health Department shall be appointed by the county’s Board of Health.
(1) (a) If the Director of Health is a physician, he, she or they shall be a full-time physician who is a graduate of a legally chartered and legally constituted medical school, licensed to practice medicine in the state.
(b) A license may be secured within six months from the date of appointment, and his, her or their employment will be subject to such other requirements as are set out by the state and the county merit system.
(2) If the Director of Health is not a physician, they shall have successfully completed a master’s degree in public health, nursing or other health discipline related to public health, or public administration, or business administration from an accredited school and have at least five years of professional public health experience, of which at least three years were in a senior level administrative capacity; or have successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in a field closely related to public health work from an accredited school and have at least 12 years of professional full-time public health experience, of which at least ten years have been in a senior level administrative capacity.
(3) If the Director of Health is not a physician, the county’s Health Department shall contract with or employ a physician that is: residing in Utah and licensed to practice medicine in Utah; competent and experienced in a primary medical care field, such as family practice, pediatrics, or internal medicine; board certified in preventive medicine or in a primary medical care field, such as family practice, pediatrics or internal medicine; able to supervise and oversee clinical services delivered within the county’s Health Department, including the approval of all protocols and standing orders; able to play a substantial role in reviewing policies and procedures addressing human disease outbreaks of public health importance; and able to participate in the State Department of Health’s local health department physician network.
(B) The Director of Health shall have and exercise the following powers and duties, in addition to all other powers and duties required of him or her by state law, federal law and local ordinance:
(1) Be the chief executive and administrative officer of the county’s Health Department, and the secretary and executive officer of the Board of Health;
(2) Succeed to all powers and discharge all duties and perform all functions that by existing law are conferred upon or required to be discharged or performed by the county’s Health Director or the Board of Health;
(3) With the approval of the Board of Health, to designate a member of the staff of the Department of Health as acting Director of Health, to act for and perform all the duties and functions of the Director of Health during any absence or disability;
(4) To prescribe standard operating procedures consistent with the law and countywide policies for the direction of the Department, the conduct of its employees, the distribution and performance of its business, and the custody, use and preservation of the records, papers, books, documents and property pertaining to the Department of Health;
(5) To approve travel and subsistence expenses necessary for employees of the Department, as actually and necessarily incurred in the performance of their official duties when absent from their places of residence;
(6) Wherever the Director of Health is responsible for the performance of any act, an appropriate employee of the Department may be authorized to act for the Director;
(7) Serve, without additional compensation or payment of fees provided by law, as local registrar of vital statistics for the area over which the Department has jurisdiction with respect to enforcement of state health laws;
(8) Serve as official health consultant to and official health spokesperson for elected officials in the county, cities and towns in which the Department has jurisdiction; and
(9) To promote and enforce all federal, state and local public health laws, ordinances, codes, rules and regulations in the Department’s areas of jurisdiction.
(Ord. 2018-01, passed - -2018)