Chapter 16, Chapter 16

(a) A local board of health shall meet as often as necessary to orderly and efficiently execute its duties and exercise its powers but, no fewer than six times per year. Members of a local board of health shall attend board meetings in compliance with attendance policies establis…

(a) To obtain an exemption under this section a person shall: (1) File an exemption application; and (2) Provide a statement detailing which exemption applies and the circumstances justifying the exemption. (b) Notwithstanding §16-2D-8 of this code and §16-2D-10 of this code and …

(a) A local board of health created, established, and operated pursuant to the provisions of this article shall: (1) Provide the following basic public health services and programs in accordance with state public health performance-based standards: (A) Community health promotion …

A local board of health shall appoint a full-time or part-time local health officer. The local health officer shall be a physician or a licensed advanced practice registered nurse with the ability to practice independently currently licensed in this state and knowledgeable in the…

(a) A certificate of need may only be issued if the proposed health service is: (1) Found to be needed; and (2) Consistent with the state health plan, unless there are emergency circumstances that pose a threat to public health. (b) The authority may not grant a certificate of ne…

(a) An application for a certificate of need shall be submitted to the authority prior to the offering or developing of a proposed health service. (b) A person proposing a proposed health service shall: (1) Submit a letter of intent ten days prior to submitting the certificate of…

(a) A local health officer serves as the executive officer of the local board and under its supervision, a local health officer shall administer and enforce state rules, local rules, and local health department rules within the local board of health’s service area. (b) A local he…

The appointing authorities for local boards of health shall provide financial support for the operation of the local health department. The county commission of any county or the governing body of any municipality in which a local board of health is established, or the county com…

The authority shall review an uncontested certificate of need application within sixty days from the date the application is batched. An uncontested application is deemed approved if the review is not completed within sixty days from the date the application is batched, unless an…

Any person who willfully obstructs any local health officer, public health nurse, sanitarian or any other person charged with the enforcement of any public health law, in the performance of that person's legal duties in enforcing the law, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conv…

(a) The authority shall render a final decision on an application for a certificate of need in the form of an approval, a denial or an approval with conditions. The final decision with respect to a certificate of need shall be based solely on: (1) The authority’s review conducted…

(a) An applicant or an affected person may appeal the authority’s final decision in a certificate of need review to the Office of Judges. The request shall be received within thirty days after the date of the authority’s decision. The appeal hearing shall commence within thirty d…

A food handler permit or card issued pursuant to the procedures put in place by a local county health department shall be valid for at least one year but not longer than three years. The permit or card shall be valid in all counties of this state, if the applicant pays an additio…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, effective July 1, 2022: (1) The Office of Judges may not review a decision of the authority, issued after June 30, 2022, in a certificate of need review. On or before September 30, 2022, the Office of Judges shall issue a f…

(a) A certificate of need is nontransferable and is valid for a maximum of one year from the date of issuance. Upon the expiration of the certificate or during the certification period, the person proposing the proposed health service shall provide the authority information on th…

(a) A temporary food service permit issued by a local or county health department to an in-state vendor in their county of residence for preparing and selling non-potentially hazardous foods at a festival, scheduled event, or similar activity which is valid for any time period le…

(a) A local or county health department shall issue a mobile food establishment statewide permit to a mobile food service establishment that is operating within the State of West Virginia. The permit will be issued from the vendor’s county of residence local or county health depa…

A person who violates the provisions of this article is subject to denial or revocation of a license, in whole or in part, to operate a proposed health service or health care facility. Upon a showing to the authority that a person is offering or developing a proposed health servi…

(a) A person who acquires, offers or develops a proposed health service for which a certificate of need is required without first having a certificate of need therefore or violates any other provision of this article, or any legislative rule promulgated thereunder, the authority …

An abortion may not be performed in this state except with the voluntary and informed consent of the female upon whom the abortion is to be performed. Except in the case of a medical emergency, consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed if, and only if: (a) The female is to…

For purposes of this article: (1) "Abortion" means abortion as that term is defined in section two, article two-f of this chapter. (2) "Attempt to perform or induce an abortion" means an act or an omission of a statutorily required act that, under the circumstances as the person …

For purposes of this article, unless the context in which used clearly requires otherwise: As used in this article: (1) “Abortion” means the use of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance or device with intent to terminate the pregnancy of a female known to be preg…

(a) There is created the Primary Care Support Program within the Bureau of Public Health. The program shall provide technical and organizational assistance to community-based primary care services. (b) The Primary Care Support Program shall create and administer a Primary Care Gr…

A local board of health, created and maintained pursuant to the provisions of article two or article two-a of this chapter, is authorized to establish and operate within its jurisdiction, one or more family planning and child spacing clinics under the supervision of a licensed ph…

As used in this article: (1) "Affected person" means: (A) The applicant; (B) An agency or organization representing consumers; (C) An individual residing within the geographic area but within this state served or to be served by the applicant; (D) An individual who regularly uses…

The definitions set forth in this section are controlling for purposes of this article and of this code, irrespective of terms used in medical coding, notations, or billing documents. For purposes of this article: “Abortion” means the use of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any…

The department shall provide home health services to those persons living in areas of the state in which adequate home health services are not available otherwise. For such services the department shall, and is hereby authorized to, charge fees to individuals to whom it renders s…

Unless the context used clearly requires a different meaning, as used in this article: "Appointing authority" means the county commission or municipality, or combination thereof, that authorized the creation or combination of the local board of health, in whatever form it present…

The authority has a period of three years to correct violations of the provisions of this article. The three-year period begins from the date the authority knows or should have known of the violation. Each new act of a continuing violation shall provide a basis for restarting the…

(a) Within 90 days of the effective date of this article, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall cause to be published, in English and in each language which is the primary language of two percent or more of the state’s population, as determined by th…

(a) A physician may not perform an abortion upon an unemancipated minor until notice of the pending abortion as required by this section is complete. (b) A physician or his or her agent may personally give notice directly, in person, by telephone or by letter to the parent, the g…

Local boards are hereby authorized to enter into written agreements with the department for the purpose of rendering home health services to persons within their respective counties and municipalities. Such agreements shall provide for the maintenance of standards established by …

(a) An abortion may not be performed or induced or be attempted to be performed or induced unless in the reasonable medical judgment of a licensed medical professional: (1) The embryo or fetus is nonviable; (2) The pregnancy is ectopic; or (3) A medical emergency exists. (b) The …

A county commission shall create, establish and maintain a county board of health if no other local board of health organized under this article is established and responsible for public health in the service area. The county board of health shall be organized pursuant to and wit…

The Secretary of Health and the Secretary of Human Services are directed to instruct their employees who work with the indigent and medically indigent to advise such indigent persons of the availability of the family planning and child spacing services offered by the state and lo…

(a) The authority shall: (1) Administer the certificate of need program; (2) Review the state health plan, the certificate of need standards, and the cost effectiveness of the certificate of need program and make any amendments and modifications to each that it may deem necessary…

Except in the case of a medical emergency or a nonmedically viable fetus, no abortion may be performed or induced or be attempted to be performed or induced unless the physician performing or inducing it has first made a determination of the probable gestational age of the fetus …

(a) An unemancipated minor who objects to the notice being given to her parent or legal guardian may petition for a waiver of the notice to the circuit court of the county in which the unemancipated minor resides or in which the abortion is to be performed, or to the judge of eit…

The department and local boards are authorized to receive moneys from any source for home health services. All such moneys as the department and local boards may receive for this service shall be used to carry out the provisions of this article.

Any employee of the State of West Virginia or any of its agencies or political subdivisions, including, but not limited to, local health or welfare agencies, may refuse to accept the duty of offering family planning services to the extent that such duty is contrary to his persona…

Within ninety days of the effective date of this article, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall develop and maintain a stable Internet website to provide the information required to be provided pursuant to the provisions of section three of this arti…

(a) The authority shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to implement the following: (1) Information a person shall provide when applying for a certificate of need; (2) Information a per…

The governing body of a municipality may create, establish and maintain a municipal board of health organized pursuant to and with the powers and duties prescribed by this article. The territorial jurisdiction of any municipal board of health is an area including the municipality…

(a) Abortion does not include: (1) A miscarriage; (2) An intrauterine fetal demise or stillbirth; (3) The use of existing established cell lines derived from aborted human embryos or fetuses; (4) Medical treatment provided to a patient by a licensed medical professional that resu…

(a) No person may perform or induce, or attempt to perform or induce, an abortion when it has been determined, by the physician performing or inducing or attempting to perform or induce the abortion or by another physician upon whose determination that physician relies, that the …

When a medical emergency compels the performance of an abortion, the physician shall inform the female, prior to the abortion if possible, of the medical indications supporting the physician's judgment that an abortion is necessary to avert her death or that a twenty-four-hour de…

(a) The notification requirements of section three of this article do not apply where the attending physician certifies that there is a need for an abortion to be performed due to a medical emergency. A description of the medical emergency shall be maintained with the unemancipat…

Any two or more counties or any county or counties and one or more municipalities within or partially within the county or counties may combine to create, establish and maintain a combined local board of health organized pursuant to and with the powers and duties prescribed by th…

(a) If an abortion is performed on an unemancipated minor under the circumstances set forth in §16-2R-3(a) of this code, the licensed medical professional or his or her agent shall provide notice to the parent, guardian, or custodian of the unemancipated minor within 48 hours aft…

(a) Any physician who performs or induces an abortion shall report to the Bureau for Public Health. The reporting shall be on a schedule and on forms set forth by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources annually, no later than December 31. The reports shall …