North Dakota § 23-35-02 - Public health units - Core functions

§ 23-35-02. Public health units - Core functions

1. All land in the state must be in a public health unit. 2. At a minimum, a public health unit shall provide the following core functions: a. Communicable disease control, which must include: (1) Conducting of disease surveillance for the purpose of preventing and controlling communicable disease, with assistance from the department. (2) Assurance of the availability of community-based programs to provide communicable disease prevention and control services. (3) Recognition, identification, and response to a communicable disease event, in collaboration with the department. b. Chronic disease and injury prevention, which must include conducting programs to reduce the burden of chronic disease and injury through policy, system, and environmental change approach; prevention screening; and education. c. Environmental public health, which must include: (1) Prevention of environmental hazards by the provision of information and education to facility operators and managers and to community members. (2) Assurance of the availability of environmental health services to prevent and respond to community and residential environmental hazards. (3) Permitting and inspections of onsite wastewater treatment systems in accordance with chapter 23.1-07.1. A public health unit shall conduct a required in-person or virtual inspection of an onsite wastewater system within one business day of receiving the request for the inspection. A public health unit may enter a cooperative agreement with a county or city for the permitting and inspection of onsite wastewater treatment systems within the boundaries of the county or city. A cooperative agreement may be terminated as provided in the agreement, by joint action of all parties, or by an individual party no less than one year after providing written notice to the other party. d. Maternal, child, and family health, which must include: (1) Assessment and monitoring of maternal and child health status to identify and address problems. (2) Implementation of programs to promote the health of women, children, and youth, and their families, through policy, system, and environmental change approaches; prevention screenings; and education. e. Access to clinical care, which must include: (1) (2) Collaboration with health care system partners to foster access to clinical care. Facilitation of linkages and referrals for appropriate clinical care, services, and resources.