reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  2-102 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 2 - Maryland Department of Health|Subtitle 1 - Organization and General Authority of Department|Part I - General Provisions|Section 2-102 - Secretary of Health

    (a)    The head of the Department is the Secretary of Health, who shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.    (b)    (1)    The Secretary serves at the pleasure of the Governor and is responsible directly to the Governor. The Secretary shall advise the Governor on all matters assigned to the Department and is responsible for carrying out the Governor’s policies on these matters.        (2)    The Secretary is responsible for the operation of the Department and shall establish guidelines and procedures to promote the orderly and efficient administration of the Department. The Secretary may establish, reorganize, or abolish areas of responsibility in the Department as necessary to fulfill the duties assigned to the Secretary.    (c)    The Secretary is entitled to the salary provided in the State budget.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  2-103 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 2 - Maryland Department of Health|Subtitle 1 - Organization and General Authority of Department|Part I - General Provisions|Section 2-103 - Deputy Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Consultants, and Other Staff

    (a)    (1)    With the approval of the Governor, the Secretary shall appoint the following five deputy secretaries:            (i)    The Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health;            (ii)    The Deputy Secretary for Health Care Financing;            (iii)    The Deputy Secretary for Operations;            (iv)    The Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services; and            (v)    The Deputy Secretary for Developmental Disabilities.        (2)    The deputy secretaries serve at the pleasure of the Secretary.        (3)    The deputy secretaries are entitled to the salary provided in the State budget.        (4)    The deputy secretaries have the duties provided by law or delegated by the Secretary.    (b)    (1)    The Secretary may employ a staff in accordance with the State budget.        (2)    Each deputy secretary and professional consultant is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Secretary.        (3)    Except as provided in paragraph (5) of this subsection or otherwise by law, the Secretary shall appoint and remove all other staff in accordance with the provisions of the State Personnel and Pensions Article.        (4)    The appointment or removal of staff of any unit in the Department is subject to the approval of the Secretary. As to any unit in the Department, the Secretary may delegate this authority to the head of that unit.        (5)    All personnel in the Department, Grade 18 and above, who administer or direct a program, shall:            (i)    Be in the executive service, management service, or special appointments in the State Personnel Management System; and            (ii)    Be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Secretary.        (6)    All personnel in the Department, Grade 18 and above, who administer or direct a program, shall disclose all other employment and compensation outside the Department to the Secretary. An individual under this paragraph may not be employed or receive compensation outside the Department that would create a conflict of interest, an appearance of a conflict of interest, or impair the impartiality and independence of judgment of the individual.    (c)    In determining the staff-to-resident ratio in any residential facility that the Department operates, the number of residents shall be the total of the residents who are physically present and who are on leave of 18 days or less.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  2-105 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 2 - Maryland Department of Health|Subtitle 1 - Organization and General Authority of Department|Part I - General Provisions|Section 2-105 - Establishment of General Policy

    (a)    The Secretary shall establish general policy for, and adopt standards to promote and guide the development of, the physical and mental hygiene services of this State and its subdivisions.    (b)    The Secretary is responsible for the health interests of the people of this State and shall supervise generally the administration of the health laws of this State and its subdivisions.    (c)    The Secretary shall adopt and revise as necessary a State health improvement plan that includes the following:        (1)    A description of the components that should comprise the health care system;        (2)    The goals and policies for Maryland’s health care system;        (3)    Identification of unmet needs and excess services for facilities and services not regulated by the certificate of need program; and        (4)    An assessment of the financial resources required and available for the health care system.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  2-106 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 2 - Maryland Department of Health|Subtitle 1 - Organization and General Authority of Department|Part I - General Provisions|Section 2-106 - Units in Department; Secretary's Authority Over Units

    (a)    The following units are in the Department:        (1)    Anatomy Board.        (2)    Behavioral Health Administration.        (3)    Developmental Disabilities Administration.        (4)    Health Services Cost Review Commission.        (5)    Maryland Psychiatric Research Center.        (6)    Postmortem Examiners Commission.        (7)    Board of Examiners for Audiologists.        (8)    Board of Chiropractic Examiners.        (9)    Board of Dental Examiners.        (10)    Board of Dietetic Practice.        (11)    Board of Electrologists.        (12)    Board of Morticians.        (13)    Board of Nursing.        (14)    Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators.        (15)    Board of Occupational Therapy Practice.        (16)    Board of Examiners in Optometry.        (17)    Board of Pharmacy.        (18)    Board of Physical Therapy Examiners.        (19)    Board of Physicians.        (20)    Board of Podiatry Examiners.        (21)    Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists.        (22)    Board of Examiners of Psychologists.        (23)    Board of Social Work Examiners.        (24)    Board of Examiners for Speech–Language Pathologists.    (b)    The Department also includes every other unit that is in the Department under any other law.    (c)    The Secretary has the authority and powers specifically granted to the Secretary by law over the units in the Department. All authority and powers not so granted to the Secretary are reserved to those units free of the control of the Secretary.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  2-107 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 2 - Maryland Department of Health|Subtitle 1 - Organization and General Authority of Department|Part I - General Provisions|Section 2-107 - Counsel to Department

    (a)    The Attorney General is legal adviser to the Department.    (b)    The Attorney General shall assign to the Department the number of assistant attorneys general authorized by law to be assigned to the Department and any additional ones necessary to give effective legal advice and counsel. The Attorney General also shall designate an assistant attorney general as counsel to the Department.    (c)    The counsel to the Department may have no duty other than to give the legal aid, advice, and counsel required by the Secretary and any other official of the Department, to supervise the other assistant attorneys general assigned to the Department, and to perform for the Department the duties that the Attorney General assigns. The counsel shall perform these duties subject to the control and supervision of the Attorney General. After the Attorney General designates the counsel to the Department, the Attorney General may not reassign the counsel without consulting the Secretary.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  2-108 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 2 - Maryland Department of Health|Subtitle 1 - Organization and General Authority of Department|Part II - Deficiencies in Services and Facilities|Section 2-108 - Powers of Secretary

    (a)    On the Secretary’s initiative or on request of a community or voluntary, nonprofit organization, the Secretary may conduct a survey to identify any area in this State that has a substantial deficiency in general or specific medical or health care facilities, staff, or services.    (b)    In cooperation with appropriate county and State groups, the Secretary may provide the community or organization with counsel and other help to establish medical or health care facilities or services and to recruit medical or health care staff in an underserved area identified as a result of the survey conducted in accordance with subsection (a) of this section.    (c)    If the counsel and other help provided under subsection (b) of this section do not result in feasible or successful proposals, or if other action is necessary to assure the public health of the underserved area, the Secretary may:        (1)    Provide the needed health care facilities, staff, or services by contract with one or more physicians, hospitals, or other medical groups or personnel; or        (2)    To facilitate the provision of State health care services to the underserved area, approve a contract or other written arrangement with a public or private health care entity, including:            (i)    A federally qualified health center;            (ii)    A health care facility, as defined in § 19–114 of this article;            (iii)    A health benefit plan or insurance carrier;            (iv)    A health maintenance organization;            (v)    A managed care organization; and            (vi)    Any other entity that finances the provision of or delivers health care services to the area.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-601.1 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-601.1 - Electronic Signatures

    For purposes of this Part I of this subtitle, an electronic signature shall have the same effect as a manual signature if the electronic signature:        (1)    Uses an algorithm approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology;        (2)    Is unique to the individual using it;        (3)    Is capable of verification;        (4)    Is under the sole control of the individual using it;        (5)    Is linked to data in such a manner that if the data are changed, the electronic signature is invalidated;        (6)    Persists with the document and not by association in separate files; and        (7)    Is bound to a digital certificate.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-602.1 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-602.1 - Advance Directive for Mental Health Services

    (a)    In this section, “mental health services” has the meaning stated in § 4–301(k)(1) of this article.    (b)    An individual who is competent may make an advance directive to outline the mental health services which may be provided to the individual if the individual becomes incompetent and has a need for mental health services either during, or as a result of, the incompetency.    (c)    (1)    An individual making an advance directive for mental health services shall follow the procedures for making an advance directive provided under § 5–602 of this subtitle.        (2)    The procedures provided under § 5–604 of this subtitle for the revocation of an advance directive shall apply to the revocation of an advance directive for mental health services.    (d)    An advance directive for mental health services may include:        (1)    The designation of an agent to make mental health services decisions for the declarant;        (2)    The identification of mental health professionals, programs, and facilities that the declarant would prefer to provide mental health services;        (3)    A statement of medications preferred by the declarant for psychiatric treatment; and        (4)    Instruction regarding the notification of third parties and the release of information to third parties about mental health services provided to the declarant.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-604 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-604 - Revocation of an Advance Directive

    (a)    (1)    Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, an advance directive may be revoked at any time by a declarant by a signed and dated written or electronic document, by physical cancellation or destruction, by an oral statement to a health care practitioner or by the execution of a subsequent directive.        (2)    A declarant, knowingly and voluntarily, may elect in an advance directive to waive the right under paragraph (1) of this subsection to revoke any part or all of the advance directive, including the appointment of an agent, during a period in which the declarant has been certified incapable of making an informed decision under § 5–602(e) of this subtitle.    (b)    If a declarant revokes an advance directive by an oral statement to a health care practitioner, the practitioner and a witness to the oral revocation shall document the substance of the oral revocation in the declarant’s medical record.    (c)    It shall be the responsibility of the declarant, to the extent reasonably possible, to notify any person to whom the declarant has provided a copy of the directive.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-604.1 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-604.1 - Anatomical Gifts in Advance Directives

    (a)    An advance directive may contain a statement by a declarant that the declarant consents to the gift of all or any part of the declarant’s body for any one or more of the purposes specified in Title 4, Subtitle 5 of the Estates and Trusts Article.    (b)    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an anatomical gift in an advance directive is valid and effective for all purposes under Title 4, Subtitle 5 of the Estates and Trusts Article, including the immunity from civil or criminal liability set forth in § 4–514 of the Estates and Trusts Article.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-606 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-606 - Certifications by Physicians

    (a)    (1)    Prior to providing, withholding, or withdrawing treatment for which authorization has been obtained or will be sought under this subtitle, the attending physician and a second physician or a nurse practitioner, one of whom shall have examined the patient within 2 hours before making the certification, shall certify in writing that the patient is incapable of making an informed decision regarding the treatment. The certification shall be based on a personal examination of the patient.        (2)    If a patient is unconscious, or unable to communicate by any means, the certification of a second physician or a nurse practitioner is not required under paragraph (1) of this subsection.        (3)    When authorization is sought for treatment of a mental illness, the second physician or the nurse practitioner may not be otherwise currently involved in the treatment of the person assessed.        (4)    The cost of an assessment to certify incapacity under this subsection shall be considered for all purposes a cost of the patient’s treatment.    (b)    A health care provider may not withhold or withdraw life–sustaining procedures on the basis of an advance directive where no agent has been appointed or on the basis of the authorization of a surrogate, unless:        (1)    The patient’s attending physician and a second physician or a nurse practitioner have certified that the patient is in a terminal condition or has an end–stage condition; or        (2)    Two physicians, one of whom is a neurologist, neurosurgeon, or other physician who has special expertise in the evaluation of cognitive functioning, certify that the patient is in a persistent vegetative state.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-607 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-607 - Treatment Without Consent

    A health care provider may treat a patient who is incapable of making an informed decision, without consent, if:         (1)    The treatment is of an emergency medical nature;        (2)    A person who is authorized to give the consent is not available immediately; and        (3)    The attending physician determines that:            (i)    There is a substantial risk of death or immediate and serious harm to the patient; and            (ii)    With a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the life or health of the patient would be affected adversely by delaying treatment to obtain consent.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-609 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-609 - Immunity From Liability; Burden of Proof; Presumption

    (a)    (1)    A health care provider is not subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability or deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct as determined by the appropriate licensing authority as a result of withholding or withdrawing any health care under authorization obtained in accordance with this subtitle.        (2)    A health care provider providing, withholding, or withdrawing treatment under authorization obtained under this subtitle does not incur liability arising out of any claim to the extent the claim is based on lack of consent or authorization for the action.    (b)    A person who authorizes the provision, withholding, or withdrawal of life–sustaining procedures in accordance with a patient’s advance directive, a “Medical Orders for Life–Sustaining Treatment” form, or as otherwise provided in this subtitle is not subject to:        (1)    Criminal prosecution or civil liability for that action; or        (2)    Liability for the cost of treatment solely on the basis of that authorization.    (c)    (1)    The provisions of this section shall apply unless it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the person authorizing or effectuating the provision, withholding, or withdrawal of life–sustaining procedures in accordance with this subtitle did not, in good faith, comply with the provisions of this subtitle.        (2)    The distribution to patients of written advance directives in a form provided in this subtitle and assistance to patients in the completion and execution of such forms does not constitute the unauthorized practice of law.    (d)    An advance directive made in accordance with this subtitle shall be presumed to have been made voluntarily by a competent individual. Authorization for the provision, withholding, or withdrawal of life–sustaining procedures in accordance with this subtitle shall be presumed to have been made in good faith.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-610 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-610 - Willful Destruction, Concealment, Damage, etc., of Declaration or Revocation; Penalties

    (a)    Any person who willfully conceals, cancels, defaces, obliterates, or damages the advance directive of another without the declarant’s or patient’s consent or who falsifies or forges a revocation of the advance directive of another, thereby causing life-sustaining procedures to be utilized in contravention of the previously expressed intent of the patient, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or both.    (b)    Any person who falsifies or forges the advance directive of another, or falsifies or forges an affidavit under § 5-605 of this subtitle, or willfully conceals or withholds personal knowledge of the revocation of an advance directive with the intent to cause a withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures, contrary to the wishes of the declarant and thereby, because of such act, directly causes life-sustaining procedures to be withheld or withdrawn and death to be hastened, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or both.    (c)    The penalties provided in this section shall be in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
MD. Health - General Code Ann. §  5-611 (2021)
2021 Maryland Statutes|Health - General|Title 5 - Death|Subtitle 6 - Health Care Decisions Act|Part I - Advance Directives|Section 5-611 - Medically Ineffective Treatment Not Required; Mercy Killing or Euthanasia Prohibited; Construction of Subtitle

    (a)    Except as provided in § 5–613(a)(3) of this subtitle, nothing in this subtitle may be construed to require a physician or physician assistant to prescribe or render medical treatment to a patient that the physician or physician assistant determines to be ethically inappropriate.    (b)    (1)    Except as provided in § 5–613(a)(3) of this subtitle, nothing in this subtitle may be construed to require a physician or physician assistant to prescribe or render medically ineffective treatment.        (2)    (i)    Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, a patient’s attending physician may withhold or withdraw as medically ineffective a treatment that under generally accepted medical practices is life–sustaining in nature only if the patient’s attending physician and a second physician certify in writing that the treatment is medically ineffective and the attending physician informs the patient or the patient’s agent or surrogate of the physician’s decision.            (ii)    If the patient is being treated in the emergency department of a hospital and only one physician is available, the certification of a second physician is not required.    (c)    Nothing in this subtitle may be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia, or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying.    (d)    A health care provider shall make reasonable efforts to provide an individual with food and water by mouth and to assist the individual as needed to eat and drink voluntarily.    (e)    (1)    Nothing in this subtitle is intended to preclude a separate decision by a health care agent or surrogate regarding the provision of or the withholding or withdrawal of nutrients and fluids administered by artificial means.        (2)    Nothing in this subtitle authorizes any action with respect to medical treatment, if the health care provider is aware that the patient for whom the health care is provided has expressed disagreement with the action.