reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215b - General objectives

The Registry shall be configured in the best manner to further the following objectives:
(a) Identify the areas of the Vieques Municipality holding the highest incidence of congenital conditions.
(b) Provide information that facilitates the identification of risk factors, causes and patterns of congenital conditions.
(c) Evaluate the possible link of congenital conditions with a continuous exposure to environmental contamination in the Vieques Municipality.
(d) Establish annual trends in the frequency and mortality of genetic conditions.
(e) Stimulate development strategies and programs that help in preventing congenital conditions for Vieques infants.
(f) Evaluate the impact of genetic conditions on the affected infants, their families and the Puerto Rico health system.
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215c - Applicable regulations

In discharging the duties imposed by this chapter, the Department of Health shall adopt the rules and procedures controlling how the Registry shall operate. The regulations so adopted shall at least strive for:
(a) The use of a medically recognized system that specifies the congenital conditions to be identified and researched.
(b) Configuring the system in such a way as to classify congenital conditions according to their seriousness for public health.
(c) Codifying the information compiled in the Registry in such a way so that the personal data of the registered infants may be represented with special codes and abbreviations.
(d) Requiring a minimum for the training and experience of the agents and officers authorized by the Registry.
(e) Determining the method for granting access to the medical records and to the necessary information for compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
(f) Establishing a procedure that facilitates cooperation among the medical facilities, the health professionals and the officer in charge of the records.
[Said procedure shall include specific rules regarding requests for medical files, the time for review of the same and the official who shall maintain such files.]
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215d - Information

(a) The Department of Health or the entity that it may designate, may require, twenty (20) days in advance, any medical facility and any health professional certified in Puerto Rico to supply the medical records of infants from Vieques diagnosed with congenital conditions or at risk of developing such conditions. They can also be required to supply the medical records of such children’s mothers.
(b) No medical facility, professional, manager, officer or employee of a medical facility shall not be criminally or civilly liable for disclosing the information required in this section.
(c) The immunity granted by subsection (b) shall not apply to those who act with gross negligence or in a malicious manner concerning the transmission of the information.
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 7.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215e - Annual report

(a) At the end of each year of operations, the Department of Health shall issue an exhaustive report to the Puerto Rico Legislature which shall include a statistical table on the incidence and patterns found in the congenital conditions of infants in Vieques.
(b) In said report, the Department of Health must detail the administrative measures in effect or planned to insure that the registered congenital conditions are attended to promptly and that the infants who suffer from them are provided with adequate treatment.
(c) The report in question shall include research on the cause, prevention and treatment of the different congenital conditions registered, in compliance with the chapter.
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 8.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215f - Consulting committee

The Secretary of Health must create a Consulting Committee to assist him or her in the discharge of the duties established in this chapter. The Committee shall be formed by experts in the areas of epidemiology, public health, computer science, statistics, hospital administration, pediatrics and those other disciplines that could make a significant contribution in the pursuit of the objectives of this chapter.
At the same time, two representatives of the Vieques public interest who reside therein and two parents of infants from Vieques with congenital conditions shall be appointed to the Committee. The Vieques Commissioner shall also form part of the Consulting Committee.
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 9.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215g - Access to information

(a) Access to the information filed in the Registry is hereby restricted to the officers authorized by the Department.
(b) Any other citizen who requests access to said information must conclusively show to the Department that he has a valid scientific interest in [undertaking] epidemiologic, demographic or medical research. The citizen who succeeds in showing such an interest must provide his personal information, the organization or entity for which he works, a preliminary research plan and the specific purpose for the request for information.
(c) Any person, whether a public officer or a private citizen who gains access to the Registry must agree in writing that he shall limit himself to the use authorized by the Department and that he shall maintain the confidentiality of the information provided. This obligation continues even when his activities in the Registry come to an end and even when the purpose for which the information was requested is attained.
(d) The Registry information shall not be considered a public record and shall have the attendant restrictions.
(e) The Registry information cannot be used to restrict the coverage or the rendering of health services.
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 10.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215h - Persons authorized to disclose information

The Department may supply recorded information in the following instances:
(a) For strictly statistical purposes, as long as identification of any person is avoided.
(b) To private or public medical personnel, to the degree that it is necessary to protect the life or health of the registered infant.
(c) If the person with legal custody or parental rights over the infant gives his informed consent for the information to be disclosed.
(d) To medical personnel, state agencies and other public officers who discharge the duties established in this chapter.
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 11.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215i - Penalties

Any individual or entity that uses the Registry information in a way that is contrary to the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, if convicted, shall be punished with a jail term not to exceed six (6) months or a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500), or both penalties at the court’s discretion.
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 12.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 142 - Registry for Congenital Conditions among Infants of the Vieques Municipality (§§ 3215 — 3215j) › § 3215j - Duration and destruction

The Registry shall have a duration of thirty (30) years. At the end of said term the individualized information on the identity of the infants in the Registry shall be destroyed and only the statistical data shall be preserved. The Registry shall become a public record.
Within the period of thirty (30) years mentioned above, a periodic destruction of the individualized information in the Registry shall be performed. Each time that any of the infants registered in the Registry reaches the age of twelve (12) years, the information concerning such infant shall be destroyed with only his statistical general data being preserved, without mention of the minor’s identity.
The two procedures described above shall be the responsibility of the Department. The penalties established in this chapter are applicable to physical and to juridical persons who undertake the mentioned destruction.
History —Sept. 27, 2003, No. 280, § 13.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3221 - Definitions

For the purposes of the construction and application of this chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have the meaning stated hereinbelow, unless another meaning clearly arises from the context:
(a) Curable catastrophic illness. —
(1) An illness whose foreseeable effect, certified by a physician, is the loss of life; for which medical science has successfully proven that there is a treatment which can remedy said condition to the point of saving the life of the patient; that said treatment, including its diagnosis, is not covered or is only partially covered by the health insurance plans available in the general market, including the Government of Puerto Rico Health Insurance Plan; and that the patient or the components of his/her family nucleus or those bound by law to support him/her, lack the financial resources to assume the costs or the means to obtain financing in private banking.
(2) It shall also mean those illnesses that are not terminal, as defined in this chapter, but that have caused a disability or permanent nature that could be seriously aggravated if medical science does not intervene through a treatment that has been proven to remedy or prevent the exacerbation of said condition. However, in this case, the Board may authorize assistance through a donation, loan or a combination of both for such patient, according to the requirements imposed by this chapter and are applicable to these cases.
The Board, however, shall not authorize assistance in this type of case while assistance is pending for those persons whose illness is defined as provided in clause (1) of this subsection. The Board shall adopt the regulations to attend to these cases.
(3) This definition shall not include epidemic diseases.
(b) Fund. — Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund created in § 3222 of this title.
(c) Board. — Evaluating Board for Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund, attached to the Department of Health of Puerto Rico and created by § 3225 of this title.
(d) Family nucleus. — Persons who live with the patient under the same roof or that claim him/her as a dependent in the income tax return.
(e) Patient. — A person for whom the assistance of the Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund is applied for, who meets the requirements established in § 3223 of this title.
(f) Secretary of Family Services. — The Secretary of the Department of Family Services or his/her designated representative.
(g) Secretary of the Treasury. — The Secretary of the Department of the Treasury of Puerto Rico or his/her designated representative.
(h) Secretary of Health. — The Secretary of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico or his/her authorized representative.
(i) Guardian. — Persons legally in charge of the patient and who assumes legal responsibility for the commitment contracted with the Fund and with the Board that administers it.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3222 - Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund—creation

The Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund is hereby created, attached to the Department of Health and administered by the Board created in § 3225 of this title, which shall be used to totally or partially defray the costs of diagnosis and treatment, including supplementary expenses, of those persons who suffer illnesses whose foreseeable effect as certified by a physician is the loss of life; for which medical science has successfully proven that there is treatment which remedies said condition to the extent of saving the patient’s life; and that said treatment, including its diagnosis, is not covered or is only partially covered by the health insurance plans available in the general market, including the Government of Puerto Rico Health Insurance Plan; and that the patient or the members of his/her family unit or those bound by law to support him/her lack the financial resources or the means to obtain financing in private banking.
For these purposes, the Department of Health shall establish a special account denominated Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund, in which the money raised and appropriated through this chapter shall be deposited.
The funds appropriated by the Legislature shall be deposited or accredited in said special account, as well as the funds proceeding from the recovery of principal and interest in those cases in which the patient or his/her guardian are granted total or partial financing, and any other money that is donated, transferred or ceded by federal, state or municipal government bodies, juridical or natural persons.
The Board is also authorized to request and accept donations, pursuant to the regulations adopted by it. It is also authorized to negotiate time and space with the mass communications media to request and obtain donations. Said negotiations may be co-sponsored by private and public institutions.
The use of the Fund’s money for purposes other than those established in this chapter is prohibited. Nevertheless, the Board is authorized to use up to a maximum of three percent (3%) of the funds appropriated and covered into the Fund for operating expenses, except for the payment of salaries, which shall be done by the Department of Health. The Fund shall be of a permanent and revolving nature, so that any surplus at the close of each fiscal year shall remain in the Fund for its capitalization and attention of future cases.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 4; Aug. 21, 2003, No. 198, § 1; Aug. 16, 2009, No. 79, § 1, retroactive to July 1, 2009.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3223 - Eligible patients

Any person who meets the following requirements shall be eligible for the assistance of the Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund:
(a) Suffers a catastrophic illness, whose foreseeable effect is loss of life.
(b) That his/her physician certifies to being aware of the condition and that medical science has successfully proven that there is a treatment to remedy said condition to the extent of saving the patient’s life.
(c) That said treatment, including its diagnosis, is not covered or is only partially covered by the health insurance plans available in the general market, including the Government of Puerto Rico Health Insurance Plan.
(d) That the patient, the members of his/her family nucleus or those bound by law to support him/her, lack the financial resources to defray the expenses, and the means to acquire financing in private banking.
(e) That he/she has been domiciled in Puerto Rico for at least two (2) years prior to applying for assistance. In the event that the patient is under two (2) years of age, for the purpose of complying with this requirement, the time that his/her parents or legal guardians have resided in Puerto Rico shall be taken into consideration.
Those persons that, with the sole purpose of receiving medical treatment, have resided temporarily outside of Puerto Rico, and that due to their condition need to again move to receive medical treatment and do not have the financial resources to receive said treatment nor to cover the supplementary expenses associated thereto, are excepted from this provision.
(f) That he/she accepts and meets with the terms and conditions required by the Board and accepts to release the Board, its members and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from any liability for the results of the diagnosis or the treatment to be used.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3224 - Administration

The Executive Director designated by the Board, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Health, shall administer the Board and the Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund, pursuant to the norms and regulations established by the Board. The Regulations adopted by the Board shall require the approval of the Secretary of Health.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3225 - Evaluating Board—Creation and composition

The Evaluating Board for Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund is hereby created. It shall be composed of the Secretary of Health, or his/her designated representative, who shall be a physician; by the Secretary of the Treasury or his/her designated representative; by the President of the Government Development Bank, or his/her designated representative; by the Secretary of the Department of the Family or his/her designated representative, and by the President of the Surgeon’s Association of Puerto Rico or his/her designated representative, who shall be a physician. Four (4) additional members shall also serve on said Board, who shall be appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico with the advice and consent of the Senate of Puerto Rico, two (2) of whom shall be representatives of the community and two (2) physicians who shall be specialists or sub-specialists, with not less than five (5) years of experience. They shall hold office for a six (6) year term and one (1) of them shall hold the position of Chairperson of the Board by designation of the Governor.
The Board, upon recommendation of the Secretary of Health, shall designate an Executive Director, who shall be an ex officio member thereof. The salary of the Executive Director shall be established by agreement of the Board and the Secretary of Health.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 7; Aug. 21, 2003, No. 198, § 2, retroactive to July 1, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3226 - Evaluation Board—Meetings, quorum and per diems

(a) The Evaluating Board shall meet as often as necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(b) For the meetings of the Evaluating Board, four (4) members shall constitute quorum and the decisions shall be made by secret vote of a majority of the members present. Quorum shall be constituted at the time of the voting.
(c) Every member of the Evaluating Board, except those that are public officials or employees, shall be entitled to per diems for each day in which they carry out any task directed by the Evaluating Board or its Chairperson, which shall be equal to the lower per diem received by the members of the Legislature for attendance to sessions, pursuant to §§ 29—33 of Title 2.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 8.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3227 - Evaluation Board—Personnel, equipment, material and offices

The Secretary of Health shall make available to the Evaluating Board whatever personnel, equipment, material and offices is required by the Evaluating Board to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
It is hereby provided that the minimum personnel assigned by the Secretary of Health to the Evaluating Board shall be composed of an accountant, a clerk-typist and a secretary-stenographer.
With the exception of the Executive Director, all the personnel of the Evaluating Board shall be career personnel and their salary, which shall be paid by the Department of Health, shall be determined pursuant to the provisions of the Uniform Classification and Retribution Plan of the Department of Health.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 9.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3230 - Prohibition of discrimination

The Department of Health and the Evaluating Board or its officials or employees shall not establish in the granting of the benefits authorized by this chapter, any discrimination whatsoever on account of race, color, sex, birth, origin or social condition, nor political or religious beliefs.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 12.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3232 - Surplus funds or funds proceeding from the payment of loans

The remainder of the Fund that the Evaluating Board has not used or encumbered at the close of each fiscal year for the purposes of this chapter, shall remain in the Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund.
Likewise, at the close of each fiscal year, the balance deposited in the special account of the Department of the Treasury, created by § 3222 of this title, shall be transferred to the Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund, without reducing the sum that is appropriated annually to said Fund as provided in § 3235 of this title.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 14.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3233 - Civil liability of the Commonwealth, Department of Health and Evaluating Board

None of the provisions of this chapter authorize suits for damages against the Commonwealth or its officials or employees; against the Department of Health or its officials or employees, and against the Evaluating Board and its officials and employees, for their actions, decisions or the results of the diagnosis and the treatment given to the patient.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 15.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3234 - Deductible donations

The contributions from corporations and associations to the Fund created by this chapter shall be deductible as provided in donations for charitable purposes and other contributions in §§ 8401 et seq. of Title 13, known as the “Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994”.
Every individual may voluntarily contribute the minimum monthly sum of one dollar ($1) to the Fund created by this chapter. Said contribution shall be made through a direct payroll deduction regardless of being a public employee or from the private sector, or by sending a check payable to the “Fund: Act No. 150 of 1996”, and shall be deductible in the income tax return of the taxable year in which said contribution was made, provided the taxpayer claimed said exemption in space provided therefore in the return.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 16; Feb. 8, 2008, No. 3, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3235 - Relationship with other laws

(a) Audits and supervision of assets, accounts, disbursements, funds and deposits.—
(1) The assets, accounts, disbursements, funds and deposits to the Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund may be subject to audits and supervision by the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico pursuant to Article II, Section 22 of the Constitution of Puerto Rico and Act No. 9 of July 25, 1952, as amended.
(2) The money deposited in the Curable Catastrophic Illnesses Services Fund shall be administered pursuant to the provisions of the Puerto Rico Government Accounting Act, §§ 283 et seq. of Title 3.
(b) Administrative procedures.— The Evaluating Board is excluded from the application of §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Uniform Administrative Procedures Act”.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 17.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 144 - Act to Implement the Public Policy on Suicide Prevention (§§ 3241 — 3244) › § 3241 - Public policy

The Government of Puerto Rico recognizes that suicide is one of the most alarming and complex problems faced by our society. In developing the public policy on this matter, scientific and clinical research on suicide as well as the prevention, intervention, handling and aftermath of suicide must be emphasized. Likewise, emphasis must be given to the extent of the problem and the right of the citizens to receive clinical and rehabilitation services without stigmatizing themselves and their family.
The Government of Puerto Rico has recognized as its public policy, that it must propitiate scientific research on suicide, the training of support professionals, the development of services to attend to the needs of these persons in crisis, and their families, so that their recovery and reentry to social and productive life is eased.
Therefore it is necessary to analyze the extent of the problem of suicide in Puerto Rico, identify the existing services, determine which additional services are needed, and develop an action plan that will integrate the efforts of the central government, municipal governments, the private sector, and of those nonprofit entities that intervene in this problem.
The public policy that is implemented through this chapter, recognizes:
(1) Suicide as a problem of the Puerto Rican society that we have the obligation to confront.
(2) The effect of the social stigma associated to mental health conditions that prevent a person from seeking help needed when at risk of suicide.
(3) In addition, the social stigma greatly affects the families and makes it difficult to return to a normal and productive life.
(4) Suicide as an undeterminable economic burden for the State in terms of the potential of lives lost and medical costs incurred, among others.
(5) Suicide as a complex multi factorial (biological, psychological and social) problem.
(6) That in spite of being a problem that can be prevented, there is a great necessity to develop more effective preventive programs.
(7) Prevention efforts are never sufficient, there is always something new to contribute so we must maximize our efforts.
History —Aug. 2, 1999, No. 227, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 144 - Act to Implement the Public Policy on Suicide Prevention (§§ 3241 — 3244) › § 3242 - Commission for the Implementation of the Public Policy on Suicide Prevention

(a) The Commission for the Implementation of the Public Policy on the Prevention of Suicide is hereby created to carry out the public policy established through this chapter. The Commission shall be composed of seventeen (17) members, including its Chairperson, who shall be the Secretary of the Department of Health, or his/her designated representative, who shall have the capacity, knowledge, and decision-making power to effectively represent the executive officer they substitute. Those designated shall answer directly to the Head of the Agency who, at the same time, shall be responsible for the determinations made by the Commission. The other members shall be: the Administrator of the Mental Health and Addiction Services Administration, the Executive Director of the Health Services Administration, the Secretary of the Sports and Recreation Department, the Secretary of the Department of Housing, the Secretary of the Department of the Family, the Secretary of the Department of Education, the Secretary of the Department of Justice, the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police, and the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Human Resources, or their representatives. In addition, there shall be one (1) representative of the Mayors’ Federation on the Commission, one (1) representative of the Mayors” Association, four (4) persons representing the private sector and clients, two (2) of which shall be representatives of nonprofit organizations that render services to suicide-prone persons on our Island, and one (1) representative of clients families.
The members that represent the private sector shall be appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico and shall hold office for a term of three (3) consecutive years, or until their successors are appointed and take office. The Governor may renew or remove the appointment of said representatives, as well as dismiss them for just cause upon notice.
(b) The expenses of the Commission shall be paid in accordance with the regulations issued by it to such effects.
(c) The Commission shall meet at least one time each month. The Chairman may call other meetings of the Board upon prior notice given at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance. Nine (9) of its members shall constitute quorum. In any determination made by the Board, there shall be a quorum, and it shall be approved by the affirmative vote of the majority of the members of the Commission that are present.
History —Aug. 2, 1999, No. 227, § 3; Dec. 31, 2002, No. 313, § 1; Sept. 29, 2012, No. 283, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 144 - Act to Implement the Public Policy on Suicide Prevention (§§ 3241 — 3244) › § 3243 - Responsibilities

(a) The Commission shall be constituted within thirty (30) days after the approval of this act, and shall adopt such rules or regulations it deems are necessary and initiate the work leading to draft the action plan that will allow the implementation of the public policy that is defined and established in this chapter.
(b) Thus, it is necessary to analyze the scope of the problem of suicide in Puerto Rico, identify the existing services, determine the additional services that are needed, and develop the action plan in which the efforts of the central government, the municipal governments, the private sector, and those nonprofit entities that handle this problem, are integrated.
(c) The Commission shall have the responsibility of remitting copies of the action plan to the Governor and the Legislature of Puerto Rico. It shall also be responsible for implementing it.
(d) The Commission shall submit a progress and achievements report to the attention of the Governor and the Legislature each year.
(e) The Commission shall establish an administrative structure constituted in principle, but not limited to a director, executive, and a secretary that will expedite and follow up the work of the Commission.
(f) It shall be the duty of the Commission to draft a strategic plan in which the specific responsibilities of each of the agencies belonging to the Committee as to the compliance with the action plan set forth in § 3244 of this title, so that the same be implemented within their dependencies for compliance with all departments and provisions of this chapter. The Commission shall give priority to the establishment of prevention programs for children and [youth] in its strategic plan. Thus, the Committee shall have an eight (8) month term after the approval of this act to draft said strategic plan and to submit the same before the Governor and the Legislature for the proper budget request and any legislature amendment necessary for the implementation thereof.
(g) The Commission shall coordinate or establish collaborative agreements with the Board of Medical Examiners of Puerto Rico, the Examining Boards attached to the Department of Health or any other Examining Board established through legislation in Puerto Rico with [emphasis] on the suicidal behavior problem that the continuing education plans of each of the regulated professions that work with said manifestation establish continuing education courses on the identification of risk factors for suicidal behavior, as well as the early detection, prevention programs and the handling, and adequate referral of suicidal behavior.
History —Aug. 2, 1999, No. 227, § 4; Sept. 1, 2006, No. 180, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 144 - Act to Implement the Public Policy on Suicide Prevention (§§ 3241 — 3244) › § 3244 - Action plan

The action plan shall include:
(a) Training for support professionals;
(b) initiatives focused on the prevention of suicides;
(c) strategies to respond in situations where there is a risk of suicide or an attempt to end his/her life;
(d) programs to promote safe and effective treatments for suicide-prone persons;
(e) mechanisms to offer support to individuals or family members who have lost a person by suicide;
(f) the development of effective strategies for the prevention of suicide;
(g) the promotion of accessibility to mental health services that will allow every persons at risk of committing suicide to receive said services beyond any social stigma;
(h) the requirement for all agencies, public corporations, municipalities, instrumentalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, public and private schools, service centers for the elderly, and any entity or organization that receives funding from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to promulgate and implement a Protocol for Suicide Prevention, in order to intensify prevention and intervention efforts aimed at persons at risk of committing suicide. In the case of government entities, the Protocol shall be administered by personnel trained in this matter under the Employee Assistance Program; the coordinators of these programs could be considered as the persons in charge of implementing the suggested protocols;
(i) any other action the Commission deems is pertinent.
History —Aug. 2, 1999, No. 227, § 5; July 16, 2010, No. 76, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 145 - Health Installations’ Privatization Process (§§ 3301-3322 — 3326s) › § 3326 - Definitions

(a) ASES (Spanish acronym). — Means the Health Insurance Administration of Puerto Rico.
(b) Bank. — Means the Government Development Bank.
(c) Department. — Means the Department of Health of Puerto Rico.
(d) Contracting entity. — [Means] the municipalities, public corporations of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the schools of medicine that are successful in their proposals and with which a contract is executed for the lease, sublease, exchange, sale or cession of one (1) or more health facilities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to operate the same pursuant to the provisions of §§ 3326—3326s of this title. The nonprofit corporations and the corporations specialized in administering, rendering and operating health services shall also be understood to be “contracting entities” solely for the execution of lease contracts pursuant to the provisions of §§ 3326—3326s of this title.
(e) Public entity. — Means any agency, department, instrumentality or public corporation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(f) School of medicine. — Means every academic entity, partnership, or subsidiary or corporation affiliated or related thereto that offers, operates and administers a curriculum or educational program in the field of health or medicine, duly approved, licensed and accredited by the Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico.
(g) Health facilities. — Means those defined as “health facilities” in §§ 331 et seq. of this title, or any part, section or definition thereof, including the equipment and inventory installed in or used for its operation, that are owned and administered or the property deed of which is held by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, its agencies and instrumentalities.
(h) Private interests. — Means a private natural or juridical person, professional group, private corporation, partnership or nongovernmental entities.
(i) Municipality. — Means a municipality constituted pursuant to §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, known as the “Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Autonomous Municipalities Act”, including those corporations, municipal consortiums or entities that pursuant to said sections are organized for the purposes established in §§ 3326—3326s of this title.
(j) Secretary. — Means the Secretary of the Department of Health.
(k) Alternate use. — Means the use of a health facility for purposes not related to the rendering of health services.
History —Jan. 1, 2003, No. 3, § 2; Sept. 30, 2004, No. 547, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 145 - Health Installations’ Privatization Process (§§ 3301-3322 — 3326s) › § 3326a - Authorization for the transfer of health facilities

The Secretary, upon previous determination of the availability of health facilities, shall establish together with the Bank the agreement through which the health facilities of the Department of Health shall be leased, subleased, sold, ceded, exchanged or transferred to the contracting entity for their operation and administration. The determination of the Secretary regarding the availability of health facilities shall be based on an evaluation of the population to be served, their health needs, the level of satisfaction with the services rendered and the health facilities and services existing in the surrounding area, including but not limited to the inventory of the health facility, the quality if services and the fiscal situation of the State before and after the transaction is negotiated, perfected or concluded.
The Secretary shall determine the health facilities that are available, and those that are not necessary for compliance with the public policy established, may be transferred or alienated for an alternate use without being subject to the provisions of §§ 3326—3326s of this title. Provided, however, That the Secretary shall comply with the publication procedure provided in § 3326c of this title. For these ends, and pursuant to § 3326q of this title, the Secretary shall promulgate the regulations that shall govern the determination of eligibility of the health installations to be destined to an alternate use. Said regulations shall take into consideration the needs of the population and the usefulness of the facilities to be sold. Being it understood that each municipality shall have the proper health facilities to meet the health needs of its population.
History —Jan. 1, 2003, No. 3, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 145 - Health Installations’ Privatization Process (§§ 3301-3322 — 3326s) › § 3326b - Use of health facilities

All those health facilities that pursuant to the provisions of §§ 3326—3326s of this title are leased, subleased, exchanged, ceded, alienated or transferred to contracting entities shall be destined exclusively to the rendering of health services. Provided, however, That those health facilities not needed for compliance of the public policy established may be given an alternate use upon determination of the Secretary pursuant to § 3326a of this title.
The contracting entities interested in health facilities shall use the same to render health service upon compliance with the following requirements:
(a) Present to the Secretary and the Bank attesting evidence of the financial solvency and administrative capacity needed to guarantee the efficient and effective operation of the health facilities.
(b) Show knowledge of the public health operation system of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and of the manner in which the health facilities shall be operated and administered under said system as well as of the health needs of the population to be served.
History —Jan. 1, 2003, No. 3, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 145 - Health Installations’ Privatization Process (§§ 3301-3322 — 3326s) › § 3326c - Proposals

Pursuant to the provisions of §§ 3326—3326s of this title, when the Secretary determines to lease, sublease, sell, cede, exchange, transfer or alienate the health facilities, he/she shall publish two (2) notices in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in Puerto Rico, to inform the public of said determination.
The Secretary shall establish the procedure that shall govern the process of application, evaluation and selection of proposals in accordance with § 3326q of this title.
In addition to those other requirements established by the Secretary, the proposals shall include the following:
(a) The commitment to acquire the bonds and policies established by law, as well as to accept at all times, the medical insurance coverage offered by the insurer or health services provider with which ASES has executed a contract for the acquisition of said coverage.
(b) The organization of health facilities and services to be established, and define its relation with the community and how to harmonize the health system services.
(c) The structural and operating organization of health services and patient management, according to the level of health services that is programmed for each particular installation.
(d) A projection of the use of the medical-hospital services to be generated by the population that shall receive the services. Said projection shall take into account the actuarial data available in the Department and at ASES.
(e) The work plan divided into phases for the implementation of the project, specifying those dates on which each of the phases shall be completed.
(f) The budget to cover the health needs of the patients of the community that shall assist to the health facility, the obligations and financial capacity of the municipality or public corporation or school of medicine.
(g) The design and plan for the implementation of a patient information and identification system that shall generate valid, reliable, precise and prompt data for the decision making process. Production of statistical reports, clinical reports, billing and collection to health plans, Medicare, direct payment and others. This plan shall be completely implemented on or before the first ninety (90) days of administration by the contractor party.
(h) The composition of the medical and dental faculty, as well as the regulations that shall govern the same, and the process for the selection of its members and evaluation of the quality of the medical care offered at the health facility. It shall also include the continuing education program of the faculty.
(i) The municipality shall include a copy of the ordinance approved by the Municipal Legislature authorizing the transaction or contracting to be executed between the municipality and the Department.
History —Jan. 1, 2003, No. 3, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 145 - Health Installations’ Privatization Process (§§ 3301-3322 — 3326s) › § 3326d - Proposals—Transfer types or plans

The proposals shall be based on different transfer types or plans of the health facilities, including but not limited to the lease, sublease, sale, cession, exchange or any other model of contract for the transfer of the administration and operation of services. The Secretary, together with the Bank and any public entity with a proprietary interest in said health facility, shall, in their discretion, determine the type of transfer that best adjusts to each case in particular, taking into account the property deed of the health facilities, the financial circumstances of the region or area in which the facilities are located, and the needs and characteristics of the population served by said health facilities.
The Secretary, together with the Bank and any public entity with a proprietary interest in said health facility may reject any or all proposals or execute contracts for the total or part of the health installations in a particular area or region.
History —Jan. 1, 2003, No. 3, § 6.