I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2153 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the reporting of cases 
of infectious diseases at facilities of the Veterans Health Administration, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2013 
Mr. DOYLE (for himself and Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the report-
ing of cases of infectious diseases at facilities of the 
Veterans Health Administration, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet-
erans Affairs Disease Reporting and Oversight Act of 
2013’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT VETERANS HEALTH ADMINIS-
TRATION REPORT CASES OF INFECTIOUS DIS-
EASES AT FACILITIES OF THE ADMINISTRA-
TION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 7330B. Reporting of infectious diseases 
‘‘(a) REPORTING.—(1) Except as provided in para-
graph (2), not later than 24 hours after the director of 
a Veterans Integrated Service Network confirms the pres-
ence of a notifiable infectious disease at a facility under 
the jurisdiction of the director, the director shall submit 
notice of such presence to the following: 
‘‘(A) The Central Office of the Department. 
‘‘(B) The Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention. 
‘‘(C) The State in which the facility is located 
and if the State has an agency or department that 
handles matters relating to such notifiable infectious 
disease, the head of such agency or department. 
‘‘(D) The county in which the facility is located 
and if the county has an agency or department that 
handles matters relating to such notifiable infectious 
disease, the head of such agency or department. 
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‘‘(E) For each individual who has contracted 
the notifiable infectious disease at the facility or is 
at risk of contracting such notifiable infectious dis-
ease— 
‘‘(i) the individual and the individual’s next 
of kin; 
‘‘(ii) the individual’s primary health care 
provider; and 
‘‘(iii) the county in which the individual re-
sides and if the county has an agency or de-
partment that handles matters relating to such 
notifiable infectious disease, the head of such 
agency or department. 
‘‘(F) Each employee of the Department who is 
employed at such facility. 
‘‘(2) If the State in which a facility described in para-
graph (1) is located requires that a notifiable infectious 
disease confirmed at such facility be reported to the State 
more quickly than required under paragraph (1) or re-
quires that a suspected presence of a notifiable infectious 
disease at such facility be reported before waiting for con-
firmation of such presence, the director concerned shall 
comply with such State requirement. 
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‘‘(3) Not later than 24 hours after submitting a no-
tice under paragraph (1), the director concerned shall con-
firm that such notice is received. 
‘‘(b) NOTIFIABLE INFECTIOUS DISEASE.—For pur-
poses of this section, a notifiable infectious disease is any 
infectious disease that is— 
‘‘(1) on the list of nationally notifiable diseases 
published by the Council of State and Territorial 
Epidemiologists and the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention; or 
‘‘(2) covered by a provision of law of a State 
that requires the reporting of infectious diseases. 
‘‘(c) PLAN TO PREVENT SPREAD.—(1) Not later 
than seven days after the director of a Veterans Integrated 
Service Network confirms the presence of a notifiable in-
fectious disease at a facility under the jurisdiction of such 
director, the director shall develop and implement an ac-
tion plan to manage and control the potential spread of 
the notifiable infectious disease. 
‘‘(2) The plan developed and implemented under 
paragraph (1) shall also provide details on the role of 
partnering Federal, State, and local government entities 
in the management and control of the potential spread of 
the notifiable infectious disease. 
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‘‘(d) RECORD KEEPING.—The director of each Vet-
erans Integrated Service Network shall keep records of 
each notice submitted under subsection (a)(1) for a period 
of not less than 10 years. 
‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORTS BY INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 
Not less frequently than once each year, the Inspector 
General of the Department shall submit to Congress a re-
port on the compliance of the directors of the Veterans 
Integrated Service Networks with the requirements of this 
section. 
‘‘(f) ENFORCEMENT AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION.— 
(1) In any case in which the Inspector General of the De-
partment suspects that a director of a Veterans Integrated 
Service Network has failed to comply with an applicable 
provision of this section, the Inspector General shall con-
duct an investigation to determine whether such director 
failed to comply with an applicable provision of this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(2) If the Inspector General determines under para-
graph (1) that a director has failed to comply with a provi-
sion of this section, the Secretary shall suspend such direc-
tor for such period as the Secretary considers appropriate 
under subchapter I or subchapter II of chapter 75 of title 
5, as the case may be. 
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‘‘(3) Paragraph (2) shall not be construed to prevent 
the Secretary from imposing, in addition to suspension 
under paragraph (2), such other disciplinary action on the 
director as the Secretary considers appropriate and for 
which the Secretary is otherwise authorized.’’. 
(b) INTERNAL COMMUNICATION.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Under Secretary for Health of the Veterans Health Ad-
ministration shall issue a directive to the Pathology Team, 
the Infection Prevention Team, and the Facilities Manage-
ment Team of the Veterans Health Administration and 
such other groups within the Administration as the Under 
Secretary considers appropriate on the actions that should 
be taken in any case in which a notifiable infectious dis-
ease (as such term is used in section 7330B of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a)) is discov-
ered in a facility of the Veterans Health Administration. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 73 of such title is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 7330A the 
following new item: 
‘‘7330B. Reporting of infectious diseases.’’. 
Æ 
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