Section 31-2A-4. Obligation to safeguard and promote health of people of the state

   The Department of Public Health shall safeguard and promote the health of the people of this state and is empowered to employ all legal means appropriate to that end. Illustrating, without limiting, the foregoing grant of authority, the department is empowered to:

   (1) Provide epidemiological investigations and laboratory facilities and services in the detection and control of disease, disorders, and disabilities and to provide research, conduct investigations, and disseminate information concerning reduction in the incidence and proper control of disease, disorders, and disabilities;

   (2) Forestall and correct physical, chemical, and biological conditions that, if left to run their course, could be injurious to health;

   (3) Regulate and require the use of sanitary facilities at construction sites and places of public assembly and to regulate persons, firms, and corporations engaged in the rental and service of portable chemical toilets;

   (4) Isolate and treat persons afflicted with a communicable disease who are either unable or unwilling to observe the department's rules and regulations for the suppression of such disease and to establish, to that end, complete or modified quarantine, surveillance, or isolation of persons and animals exposed to a disease communicable to man;

   (5) Procure and distribute drugs and biologicals and purchase services from clinics, laboratories, hospitals, and other health facilities and, when authorized by law, to acquire and operate such facilities;

   (6) Cooperate with agencies and departments of the federal government and of the state by supplying consultant services in medical and hospital programs and in the health aspects of civil defense, emergency preparedness, and emergency response;

   (7) Prevent, detect, and relieve physical defects and deformities;

   (8) Promote the prevention, early detection, and control of problems affecting the dental and oral health of the citizens of Georgia;

   (9) Contract with county boards of health to assist in the performance of services incumbent upon them under Chapter 3 of this title and, in the event of grave emergencies of more than local peril, to employ whatever means may be at its disposal to overcome such emergencies;

   (10) Contract and execute releases for assistance in the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers and to supply services which are within its purview to perform;

   (11) Enter into or upon public or private property at reasonable times for the purpose of inspecting same to determine the presence of disease and conditions deleterious to health or to determine compliance with health laws and rules, regulations, and standards thereunder;

   (12) Establish, by rule adopted pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act," a schedule of fees for laboratory services provided, schedules to be determined in a manner so as to help defray the costs incurred by the department, but in no event to exceed such costs, both direct and indirect, in providing such laboratory services, provided no person shall be denied services on the basis of his or her inability to pay. All fees paid thereunder shall be paid into the general funds of the State of Georgia. The individual who requests the services authorized in this paragraph, or the individual for whom the laboratory services authorized in this paragraph are performed, shall be responsible for payment of the service fees. As used in this paragraph, the term "individual" means a natural person or his or her responsible health benefit policy or Title XVIII, XIX, or XXI of the federal Social Security Act of 1935; and

   (13) Exchange data with the Department of Community Health for purposes of health improvement and fraud prevention for programs operated by the Department of Community Health pursuant to mutually agreed upon data sharing agreements and in accordance with federal confidentiality laws relating to health care.

Code 1981, § 31-2A-4, enacted by Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 3-1/HB 214.