N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143B-136.1

History

(1997-443, s. 11A.3.)

Transfer of Health Services. - Session Laws 1997-443, s. 11A.120, provides that references in the Session Laws to any department, division, or other agency that is transferred by Part XIA of the act shall be considered to refer to the successor department, division, or other agency. Every Session Law that refers to any department, division, or other agency to which that Part applies that relates to any power, duty, function, or obligation of any department, division, or agency and that continues in effect after that Part shall be construed so as to be consistent with that Part.

Session Laws 1997-443, s. 11A.124, provides all statutory authority, powers, duties, functions, records, personnel, property, and unexpended balances of appropriations or other funds of any agency which are transferred pursuant to this Part shall be transferred in their entirety.

Session Laws 1997-443, s. 11A.125, provides unless specifically provided to the contrary or unless a contrary intent is clear from the context, any official designation of any agency transferred by this Part as the State agency for any function, including specifically purposes of federal programs, shall be considered to be a designation of the successor agency.

Session Laws 1997-443, s. 11A.126, provides no later than 30 days after the effective date of this part, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall enter into a Memorandum of Agreement that provides for coordination between the departments as to any functions shared by the departments as a result of the passage of this Part. This Memorandum shall require that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources provide staff to the Commission for Health Services [now the Commission for Public Health] for the Commission's duties under Articles 8, 9, 10, and 12 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes. Until a Memorandum of Agreement has been entered into by the departments, the Department of Health and Human Services shall provide all clerical and other services required by the Commission for Health Services [now the Commission for Public Health].

Session Laws 1997-443, s. 11A.130, provides in part that Part XIA of that act becomes effective when the act becomes law (August 28, 1997).

Prescription Drug System. - Session Laws 2001-424, ss. 21.6(a) to (d), as amended by Session Laws 2001-513, s. 20, and by Session Laws 2002-126, s. 10.6, provides: "(a) Of the funds appropriated in this act [Session Laws 2001-424] to the Department of Health and Human Services, the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for the 2001-2002 fiscal year shall be used to initiate the development of a system to assist eligible individuals in obtaining prescription drugs at no cost through pharmaceutical company programs. The system will be designed to minimize the efforts of patients and their health care providers in securing needed drugs. The required patient and health care provider data will be maintained and orders tracked in order to initiate timely reorders of needed drugs to assure continuity of medication intake. The Department may contract with a private nonprofit organization to assist in the development of the system as provided under this section.

"(b) The development of the system shall be jointly managed by the Office of Research, Demonstrations and Rural Health Development and the Office of Pharmacy Services, Division of Public Health.

"(c) The Department shall work with pharmaceutical companies in obtaining access to company applications for assistance and making those applications available to the general public. The Department shall ensure that pharmaceutical company programs are registered with the Department and shall obtain the application forms of each pharmaceutical program.

"(d) The Department shall report on the implementation of this section [s. 21.6 of Session Laws 2001-424] on January 1, 2002, April 1, 2002, and October 1, 2002, to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division."

Acute Care and Long-Term Care Expenditures. - Session Laws 2001-424, s. 21.19(q), as amended by Session Laws 2002-126, s. 10.11(a), provides: "The Department of Health and Human Services shall submit a quarterly status report on expenditures for acute care and long-term care services to the Fiscal Research Division and to the Office of State Budget and Management. This report shall include an analysis of budgeted versus actual expenditures for eligibles by category and for long-term care beds. In addition, the Department shall revise the program's projected spending for the current fiscal year and the estimated spending for the subsequent fiscal year on a quarterly basis. The quarterly expenditure report and the revised forecast shall be forwarded to the Fiscal Research Division and to the Office of State Budget and Management no later than the third Thursday of the month following the end of each quarter."

Division of Early Intervention and Education. - Session Laws 2001-424, ss. 21.80(b) to (f), provide: "(b) The Division of Early Intervention and Education is dissolved and an Office of Education Services [subsequently dissolved by Session Laws 2010-31, s. 10.21A(a)] is created within the Department of Health and Human Services. The purpose of this office is to manage the Schools for the Deaf, the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, and their preschool components. The Office shall have a Superintendent and appropriate staff to manage these schools. The purpose of the Office is to improve student academic and postsecondary outcomes and to strengthen collaborative relationships with local education agencies and with the State Board of Education.

"(c) The Early Intervention program, including all positions and the corresponding State appropriations, federal funds, and other funds that were in the Early Intervention program as of January 1, 2001, are transferred from the Division of Early Intervention and Education to the Division of Public Health, Women's and Children's Health Section.

"(d) The Developmental Evaluation Centers, including all positions and the corresponding State appropriations, federal funds, and other funds, are transferred from the Division of Early Intervention and Education to the Division of Public Health, Women's and Children's Health Section.

"(e) The Governor Morehead School preschool program, including all positions and the corresponding State appropriations, federal funds, and other funds, is transferred from the Division of Early Intervention and Education to the Governor Morehead School.

"(f) The Department of Health and Human Services shall make the necessary organization changes effective immediately and the budget adjustments by October 1, 2001."

Public Health Improvement Plan - Session Laws 2009-451, s. 10.26(a)-(j), provides: "(a) The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) shall develop a five-year Public Health Improvement Plan (Plan) by March 31, 2010. In developing the Plan the Secretary shall:

"(1) Adopt a list of services and activities performed by local health departments that qualify as core public health functions of statewide significance.

"(2) Adopt a list of performance measures with the intent of improving health status indicators applicable to core public health functions of statewide significance that local health departments (LHDs) must provide.

"(3) Identify a set of health status indicators to be given priority by LHDs.

"Under the Plan, all priorities and health status indicators must incorporate as an essential activity the disparity of diseases amongst populations and locales.

"(b) In order for measurable benefits to be realized through the implementation of the Plan, the Plan shall include the adoption of levels of performance necessary to promote:

"(1) Uniformity across local health departments,

"(2) Best evidence-based services,

"(3) National standards of performance,

"(4) Innovations in public health practice, and

"(5) Reduction of geographic and racial health disparities.

"LHDs shall have the flexibility and opportunity to use the resources available to achieve the required performance measures in a manner that best suits the LHD.

"(c) The Plan will address the need to provide county health departments with financial incentives to encourage and increase local investment in public health functions. County governments shall not supplant existing local funding with State incentive resources. The Secretary may revise the list of activities and performance measures as appropriate, but before doing so, the Secretary shall provide a written explanation of the rationale for the addition, deletion, or revision.

"(d) In developing the Plan the Secretary shall establish and chair the Public Health Improvement Plan Task Force (Task Force), the members and expertise of which shall include:

"(1) Local health departments,

"(2) Department staff,

"(3) Individuals and entities with expertise in the development of performance measures, accountability, and systems management,

"(4) Experts in development of evidence-based medical guidelines or public health practice guidelines, and

"(5) Individuals and entities that will be affected by the performance measures.

"(e) The implementation schedule for the Plan shall be as follows:

"(1) July 1, 2009, establish the Task Force to develop the Plan,

"(2) March 31, 2010, submit the Plan to the 2010 Regular Session of the 2009 General Assembly,

"(3) July 1, 2010, implement the Plan, and

"(4) November 15, 2011, and annually thereafter, report on Plan implementation.

"(f) The Department will identify the programmatic activities and funding in the Division of Public Health associated with the core functions and activities in the Plan. Funds associated with these activities shall be subject to a flexible spending formula adopted by the Department, as follows:

"(1) Beginning in SFY 2010-2011, the flexible spending formula will begin to replace the current spending with a more effective method of funding public health activities at the local level and achieving the results expected.

"(2) The Task Force shall identify a reliable and consistent source of State revenue to fund the flexible spending formula.

"(3) If sufficient additional revenue is available to implement the Plan, a separate set-aside of available funds would be created. This set-aside would be available to contiguous LHDs that seek to address a specific women's health, child health, or adult health disease or chronic condition, and in doing so, choose to merge into a single Local Health District, thus saving administrative dollars to be focused on public health issues.

"(g) Funds appropriated to the Department for flexible spending shall be distributed to county health departments as follows:

"(1) Each of the county health departments will receive a base amount to be determined by the DHHS.

"(2) The balance of funds in the Flexible Spending Account is to be distributed to the counties on the basis of a formula that takes into consideration the following elements:

"a. Population,

"b. Per capita income,

"c. Rates of:

"1. Infant mortality,

"2. Teenage pregnancy,

"3. Tobacco use,

"4. Cancer,

"5. Heart disease,

"6. Diabetes, and

"7. Stroke.

"d. Percent of minorities in the county,

"e. Body Mass Index (BMI) of public school students, and

"f. Other factors as the Secretary may find necessary to achieve the goals of the Plan.

"(3) The use of the funds by the LHD would reflect the core public health functions. It will be incumbent upon the LHD to use the funds in a manner that assures its achievement of the performance measures adopted by the Secretary.

"(h) To ensure compliance with Department directives, the Task Force shall consider requiring each county health department to submit to the Secretary such data as the Secretary determines is necessary to allow the Secretary to assess whether the county health department has used the funds in a manner consistent with achieving the performance measures associated with this Plan.

"(i) Beginning November 15, 2011, and biannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Governor and the General Assembly on:

"(1) The distribution of funds to LHDs,

"(2) The use of these funds by LHDs,

"(3) The specific effect the funding from this Plan has had on:

"a. LHDs' performance,

"b. Health status indicators, and

"c. Health disparities.

"The Secretary's initial report will focus on implementation. Subsequent reports will evaluate trends in performance and expenditures."

Plan for Relocating All DHHS Offices to One Location. - Session Laws 2015-241, s. 31.10(a), (b), provides: "(a) The Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Administration, shall develop a plan for relocating the administrative personnel and resources of the Department of Health and Human Services that are located on the Dorothea Dix campus and on other property leased or owned by the State in the Greater Triangle area (consisting of Durham, Orange, Johnston, and Wake Counties) to one site available to the State. The plan shall not provide for the relocation of personnel and resources whose primary responsibilities include the provision of services directly to the public in the Greater Triangle area. The Department shall report the plan to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division by the earlier of October 1, 2016, or six months prior to the date on which the Department is required to move some or all of its personnel and resources from the Dorothea Dix campus under the terms of an agreement between the State and the City of Raleigh. The plan required by this section shall include at least all of the following information:

"(1) The location to which the personnel and resources of the Department of Health and Human Services will be relocated.

"(2) The square footage needed in order to accommodate the relocation.

"(3) A statement of anticipated costs or benefits associated with the relocation.

"(4) A schedule for implementation of the relocation plan.

"(5) Identification of any potential obstacles to the relocation plan.

"(6) Options for financing the relocation plan developed in conjunction with the State Treasurer and the State Controller.

"(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the Department of Health and Human Services nor the Department of Administration shall enter into any lease or other agreement to move the personnel or resources of the Department of Health and Human Services that currently reside on the Dorothea Dix campus or on other property leased or owned by the State in the Greater Triangle area to another site until specifically authorized to do so by the General Assembly."