2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 81 - Board of Examiners of Health Educators (§§ 2550 — 2559) › § 2554 - Powers and duties

The Board of Examiners created herein shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) To issue licenses to practice the profession of health educator and that of community health educator in Puerto Rico.
(b) To adopt an official seal.
(c) To prepare and submit to the Secretary of Health for his approval the rules and regulations needed to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Said rules and regulations shall have the force of law after their approval by the Secretary of Health and their registry at the Department of State. Those rules and regulations which are not of an internal nature shall be submitted to public hearings and may be revised and amended as often as necessary in the same manner as the general regulations are adopted.
(d) To prepare and offer examinations to determine the capacity of the applicants for a license based on their academic training.
(e) To investigate and decide all the complaints for violations of the provisions of this chapter or of the regulations in the manner provided herein.
(f) To issue summons by registered mail requesting appearance of witnesses or interested parties and requiring the presentation of relevant documents to be used as documentary evidence at any hearing held for the purposes of this chapter. Upon failure of the parties or witnesses to appear after being duly notified or to deliver the required documents the Board may upon motion to that effect request the Court of First Instance, San Juan Part, for an order decreeing their appearance or the delivery of said documents. Disobedience of said order shall be punished as contempt of court, in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
(g) To keep a registry of the health educators and community health educators authorized to practice the profession in Puerto Rico. The presentation in court of a certificate of said registry shall be prima facie evidence that the person is authorized to practice as such in Puerto Rico.
This registry shall consign the name and personal data of the health educator or community health educator to whom the license has been issued, the date of issue, the number and term of effectiveness of the license, and any corresponding annotation on the margin regarding recertified, suspended, revoked, or canceled licenses.
(h) The Board shall have the power to deny, suspend, or revoke a license for any of the reasons stated below. The Board may grant a hearing by petition of the affected party in those cases of a license denial, when deemed convenient, and shall grant an administrative hearing to the aggrieved person in all cases of suspension or revocation of a license so that the latter may have the opportunity to present evidence in his behalf and to face all the evidence against him. The aggrieved party may appear in his/her own defense or through counsel. The hearing shall be presided by the Board, or by the person on whom [sic] the Board delegates.
(1) When the person tries to obtain his license by fraud or deceit;
(2) does not meet the requirements established by law;
(3) is a drug addict or is a habitual alcoholic;
(4) has been convicted of a felony or an offense implying moral depravation, or
(5) has been declared mentally unfit by a competent court.
It may suspend or revoke licenses:
(1) When the person is mentally or physically disabled and his disability to practice the profession is established before the Board by experts.
(2) Is a drug addict or is a habitual alcoholic.
(3) Has been convicted of a felony or an offense implying moral depravation.
(4) Has been guilty of extreme negligence in the discharge of his duties and said negligence has been proven by the agency or firm in which he works, or by the Central Personnel Administration Office.
(5) For persistent violations of this chapter or the regulations.
(6) Does not meet with the recertification of requirement based on continued education, and registry provided in §§ 3001 et seq. of Title 24.
Any person whose license has been denied, suspended, or revoked may file a petition in the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, for review of the final order of the Board.
It may deny licenses on the following grounds:
(i) To establish the consultation and coordination mechanisms in conjunction with the Department of Health, and between them adopt the necessary agreements to perform their respective functions.
(j) To collaborate in order to offer the citizenry health education services of the best quality and at the lowest possible cost. Likewise, to handle, investigate, and take action with regard to sworn complaints presented by any person against a candidate to a health educator’s or a community health educator’s license, or against a licensed health educator or a licensed community health educator.
(k) To draft the continued education regulations; Provided, That the public and private agencies which hire health educators and community health educators shall offer these professionals the opportunities they may need for their professional development, and to comply with the provisions of this chapter in everything related to the recertification of these professionals and the quality of the services rendered by them.
(l) To establish the necessary requirements and mechanisms for the registration of the licenses it issues every three (3) years, and for the recertification of professionals based on continuing education in a term of three (3) years, counting from the date on which the Board prepared the continuing education regulations for these professions, and said regulations are approved according to the provisions of §§ 3010 and 3030 of Title 24.
(m) To provide for the certification of specializations as determined by regulations.
(n) The Board shall have the faculty to grant provisional licenses whenever necessary according to its rules and regulations.
(o) To develop a guidance counseling program, addressed to persons who wish to pursue a degree in health education, on the academic requirements to take the revalidation examination and to obtain the license required in this chapter.
(p) To develop an information system that allows a statistical relationship to be established between the revalidation examination results and the characteristics of the aspirants, such as age, gender, last school attended, and grade point average, by educational institution in which they have studied.
All regulation, investigation and adjudication procedures that may arise before the Board, as well as the judicial review of the final decisions issued thereby, shall be governed in accordance with what is established in §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Puerto Rico Uniform Administrative Procedures Act.”
History —July 3, 1975, No. 148, p. 455, § 4, renumbered as § 5 and amended on June 4, 1983, No. 85, p. 195, § 5; Dec. 20, 1991, No. 112, § 3.