As used in the Public Health Act:

A. "condition of public health importance" means an infection, a disease, a syndrome, a symptom, an injury or other threat that is identifiable on an individual or community level and can reasonably be expected to lead to adverse health effects in the community;

B. "crisis triage center" means a health facility that:

(1) is licensed by the department of health; and

(2) provides stabilization of behavioral health crises and may include residential and nonresidential stabilization;

C. "department" means:

(1) the department of health; or

(2) the children, youth and families department as to child care centers, residential treatment centers that serve persons up to twenty-one years of age, community mental health centers that serve only persons up to twenty-one years of age, day treatment centers that serve persons up to twenty-one years of age, shelter care homes and those outpatient facilities that are also community-based behavioral health facilities serving only persons up to twenty-one years of age;

D. "director" means the secretary;

E. "health care provider" means an individual licensed to provide health care in the ordinary course of business, except as otherwise defined in the Public Health Act;

F. "health facility" means a public hospital, profit or nonprofit private hospital, general or special hospital, outpatient facility, crisis triage center, freestanding birth center, adult daycare facility, nursing home, intermediate care facility, assisted living facility, boarding home not under the control of an institution of higher learning, child care center, shelter care home, diagnostic and treatment center, rehabilitation center, infirmary, community mental health center that serves both children and adults or adults only, residential treatment center that serves persons up to twenty-one years of age, community mental health center that serves only persons up to twenty-one years of age and day treatment center that serves persons up to twenty-one years of age or a health service organization operating as a freestanding hospice or a home health agency. The designation of these entities as health facilities is only for the purposes of definition in the Public Health Act and does not imply that a freestanding hospice or a home health agency is considered a health facility for the purposes of other provisions of state or federal laws. "Health facility" also includes those facilities that, by federal regulation, must be licensed by the state to obtain or maintain full or partial, permanent or temporary federal funding. It does not include the offices and treatment rooms of licensed private practitioners;

G. "screening" means a preliminary procedure, including a test or examination, that:

(1) may require further investigation; and

(2) can identify individuals with unrecognized health risk factors or asymptomatic disease conditions in populations;

H. "secretary" means:

(1) the secretary of health; or

(2) the secretary of children, youth and families as to child care centers, residential treatment centers that serve persons up to twenty-one years of age, community mental health centers that serve only persons up to twenty-one years of age, day treatment centers that serve persons up to twenty-one years of age, shelter care homes and those outpatient facilities that are also community-based behavioral health facilities serving only persons up to twenty-one years of age; and

I. "test" means any diagnostic or investigative analysis or medical procedure that determines the presence of, absence of or exposure to a condition of public health importance or its precursor in an individual.

History: 1953 Comp., § 12-34-2, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 359, § 2; 1977, ch. 253, § 39; 1979, ch. 25, § 1; 1981, ch. 171, § 10; 1983, ch. 112, § 1; 1987, ch. 27, § 1; 1996, ch. 35, § 1; 1999, ch. 165, § 1; 2003, ch. 284, § 1; 2007, ch. 325, § 6; 2007, ch. 326, § 1; 2015, ch. 61, § 1; 2015, ch. 153, § 1; 2017, ch. 87, § 4; 2018, ch. 34, § 1.

Cross references. — For creation of the department of health, see 9-7-4 NMSA 1978.

For criminal records screening for caregivers employed by care providers, see 29-17-2 to 29-17-5 NMSA 1978.

The 2018 amendment, effective March 1, 2018, revised the definition of "crisis triage center" as used in the Public Health Act; and in Subsection B, at the end of Paragraph B(1), added "and", deleted former Paragraph B(2) and redesignated former Paragraph B(3) as Paragraph B(2), and in Paragraph B(2), after "health crises", deleted "including" and added "and may include residential and nonresidential".

The 2017 amendment, effective June, 16, 2017, defined "condition of public health importance", "health care provider", and revised the definition of "department" as used in the Public Health Act; added new Subsection A and redesignated former Subsections A through C as Subsections B through D, respectively; in Subsection C, after "'department', deleted "or 'division'", added new Paragraph C(1) and designated the language of the former subsection as Paragraph C(2), and in Paragraph C(2), after "twenty-one years of age;", deleted "and the department of health as to all other health facilities, unless otherwise designated"; added new Subsection E and redesignated former Subsection D as Subsection F; in Subsection F, after "crisis triage center", deleted "maternity home or shelter", and after "intermediate care facility", added "assisted living facility"; deleted former Subsection E, which defined "person"; added new Subsection G and redesignated former Subsection F as Subsection H; in Subsection H, added new Paragraph H(1) and designated the language of the former subsection as Paragraph H(2), and in Paragraph H(2), after "twenty-one years of age", deleted "and the secretary of health as to all other health facilities"; and added Subsection I.

2015 Multiple Amendments. — Laws 2015, ch. 153, 1, effective June 19, 2015, in Subsection D, after "home or shelter", added "freestanding birth center".

Laws 2015, ch. 61, § 1, effective June 19, 2015, added a new Subsection A and redesignated former Subsections A and B as Subsections B and C, respectively; deleted former Subsection C; in Subsection D, after "outpatient facility", added "crisis triage center", and after "licensed private practitioners" added "and"; and added a new Subsection E and redesignated the succeeding subsection accordingly.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, added to the definition of "department" shelter care homes and outpatient facilities that are also community-based behavioral health facilities serving only persons up to twenty-one years of age and defined "secretary" to mean the secretary of children, youth and families as to residential treatment centers, community mental health centers, day treatment centers, and outpatient facilities that are also community-based behavioral health facilities that serve persons up to twenty-one years of age and shelter care homes.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, substituted "residential treatment centers that serve persons up to twenty-one years of age, community mental health centers that serve only persons up to twenty-one years of age and day treatment centers that serve persons up to twenty-one years of age" for "and facilities" following "child care centers" in Subsection A; in Subsection D, inserted "that serves both children and adults or adults only, residential treatment center that serves persons up to twenty-one years of age, community mental health center that serves only persons up to twenty-one years of age and day treatment center that serves persons up to twenty-one years of age" following "mental health center", and substituted "that" for "which" following "includes those facilities".

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, inserted "community mental health center" following "infirmary" in Subsection D.

The 1996 amendment, effective May 15, 1996, rewrote Subsections A and B; in Subsection D, deleted "sanitarium" preceding "maternity" and "asylum" preceding "nursing" in the first sentence and substituted "entities as health facilities" for "services as a health facility" in the second sentence; and added Subsection E.