Hon. E. M. Lawrence OpinionNo, M- 713

Executive Secretary Texaa Board of Llcensure for '. Re: Whether the Board of Nursing Home Admlnlnlatrators Licensure for Nursing 6225 U.S. Highway 290 East Rome Admlnistrattirs arid Austin, Texas the State Department of Health may share inforHon. J. E. Peavy matlon received by such Commissionerof Health a enclee under Articles Texas State Department of Health 4&42c and 4442d, Vernon':: 1100 W. 49th Street Civil Statutes. Austin, Tixas Gentlemen:

You have requested the opinion of thle office the above matter. In this connectionyou have provided following Information: regarding ua with the

"The Texas Board of Licensure for Nursing Home Administrators was created to admlnleterthe licensing of nursing home administrators pursuant to Article 4442d, Tex. Rev. Clv. Stat. Ann. (1969), and one of the functions of the Texas State Department of Health is to admlnlater the llcenein of 'institutiona, which Is defined In Article &442~ (2), Tex. Rev. Clv. Stat. Ann. (1969) to lncluie nursing homes. In the course of carrying out Its functions,each agency gather0 informationwhich would be of great use to the other; however, at the present time each agency Is reluctant to share ite.recordsbecause of the possibilitythat the confidentialnature of such records prohibits access thereto by any entity other than the agency which gathered the information. "Accordlfigiy,

the Texas Board of Llcenaure for Nursing Home Administrators,speakingunanimously, requests the Attorney General'e Opinion on the following question:

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E. Peavy, page 2 (M-713)

"Does the Board have the authority to dlvulge to the Texas S&ate Departmentof Health the informationand recordswhloh it gathers In the course of performingits functionsand duties under Tex. Rev. Civ. stat. Ann., Art. 44&d (1969)? "Similarly,the Texas State Department of Public Health requests the AttorneyGeneral's oplnlon on the followingquestion:
"Does the Texas State Departmentof Health have the authority to divulge to the Texas Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administratorsthe Informationand records It gathers In the course. of performing its functionsand duties under Tex. Rev. Clv. Stat. Ann., Art. 444% (1969)? "Although there are two questions submitted because of the possibilityof different answers, neither agency has an objectionto a consolidated response to both questionsIn the event such an opinion can be rendered. "The activitiesof the Health Departmentand the Board overlap to such an extent that the sharing 'of Informationwould greatly reduce the workload lmposed upon each agency and, thereforz,~ would result In a savings to the'taxpayer. , . . At the outset we would point out that' Article 4442d, Vernon's Civil Statutes,which controls the operationsof the Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators, contains no specific statementregardinga llmltatlonon the public nature of its fl.les

and records. Accordingly,It Is our conclusionthat such recordswould be reasonablyavailableto the public and that no ptc,blem

exists aa to making such records available to,the State Departmentof Health.

Width regard to the matter of whether the State Department of Health may make Its records available for use by the Board of ti::ensure

for Nursing Home Admlnlstrators,,we are faced with the provisionsof Section 13, Article 4442c, Vernon's Civil Statutes, which reads as follows:

bet. 13. Informationreceived by the LicensingAgency /State Department of Health7 through filed rep?%ts, Inspection,or as otherwise
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1: ::,i

. & a NJ.

Lawence, Hon. J. B. Peavy, page 3 (id-?ij)

authorizedunder this law shall not be disclosed cazly. except a8 authortiedelsewhere in this n such manner as to Identify individualsor institutions

as defined herein except In a pgoceedlng involvln (Emphasisadded.

7 the westion of llcensurk.

The phrase 'shall not be disclosedpublicly"has not previously been the subject of any opinionby this offiae, nor have we been able to discover a reported case wherein this particularphrase has been examined. Since the Legislaturedid not speciallydefine the phrarre

we must Interpret the words In the sense In which they are ordinarilyused. Calvert v. Fisher, 259 S.W.2d 944 (Tex.Clv. App. 1953, error ref.). When viewed from this aspect, we admit to route uncertaintyas to just what types of‘ disclosuresmight be forbidden by the phrase In question. The tendency Is to restrict such statutes to only the relatlonshlps particularly

named by strict construction. 97 C.J.S. 741, Witnesses, Sso. 254. However, It seems clear that an Interagencyshartng of the data, in carrying out a related admlnlstratlve aim, could not be consideredas a public dlsalosure of the Information. Attorney General Opinions Nos. O-2319 (1940) and.&388 (1969). Communications between governmentofficersare privilegedand are not deemed public. 47 C.J.S. 747, Witnesses, Sec. 26k.

In connectionwith the foregoing,we would note that any such records from the State Health Departmentwhich come Into the pos'sesslon~of

the Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators must retain their original confidentialstatus, and the said Board would be responsiblefor Insuringagainst their public disclosure.

You are accordinglyadvised that it Is the opinion of this office that the provisionsof Article 4442d,Vernon's Civil Statutes,permits the Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators to provide pertinent lnfozrmatlon a8 desired to the Stati: Departmentof Health-. The State Departmentof Health Is authorize::. under the provlslons.of Article 4442c,Vernon's Civil Statutes,to provide file informationto the Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators

forlts own confidential use. SUMMARY The provisionsof Article &4&2d, Vernon's Civil Statutes,permits the Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators to provide pertinent Informationas desired to the S.tateDepartment of Health. The State Departmentof Health 18 authorized,under the provisionsof Article 444.?c,
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K(rr: I ii. M. Lawrence, Hon. J. E. Peavy, page 4 (M-713)

Vernon's Civil Statutes, to provide file Informationto the Board of Llcensu.re for Nursing Home Admlnlstrators for It own confldentlal use.

I,rzpared

by Malcolm L. Quick AssistantAttorney Qeneral i!?PR(IVED: ?K!NION COMMITTEE Kerns Taylor, Chairman -5;. E. Allen, Co-Chairman .X:x White Jack Sparks LFisher Tyler flax Hamilton MiEhDE F. GRIFFIN Staff Legal AsSiStant ALtiRED WALKER EXeCutiVs ASBiStSnt NOLA WHITE First Assistant

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