2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART VI - Tourism (§§ 6001 — 6982i) › Chapter 163 - Medical Tourism Act (§§ 6981 — 6981k) › § 6981b - Powers and authorities

The Executive Director shall have all the powers and authorities as are necessary and convenient to develop and carry out the public policy stated in this chapter. Said official shall have the powers and responsibilities provided hereinbelow, without losing any other power or authority conferred on such official, and on any other officials, agencies, departments, public corporations, and instrumentalities of the State’s Government, by any other laws:
(a) To develop a strategic plan that shall serve as a coherent platform to boost the medical tourism industry in Puerto Rico, which plan shall outline and integrate the active participation of the state’s agencies that bear a relationship with such industry, as well as with the private sector of the economy and the community in general; it shall promote an integrative vision of the industry, ensure the continuity of the Government’s programs and efforts in order to guarantee the continuous viability of the industry as a sustainable and self-financing economic activity; and establish short-, medium-, and long-term goals for the development thereof.
(b) To determine the criteria, indicators, parameters, requirements, and implications of establishing and developing programs and facilities for medical tourism that promote the objectives of this chapter and the public policy established for the industry.
(c) To coordinate a media campaign to promote Puerto Rico as a world- class center for medical tourism, and to keep the Consultative Board up to date on the implementation and effectiveness thereof, as well as of market trends and the implications of fluctuations in such trends for such industry in Puerto Rico.
(d) To periodically evaluate and review all the facilities, premises, and activities certified as pertaining to medical tourism so as to determine their compliance with the objectives and provisions of this chapter and the public policy established for the industry.
(e) To promote and foster cooperation and the coordination of efforts among government agencies, the private sector, and the community in general for the development of medical tourism and the implementation of the objectives and provisions of this chapter and the public policy established for the industry.
(f) To evaluate applications and issue licenses, certifications, endorsements, and permits for facilities, premises, and activities that comply with the norms, parameters, and requirements established by the laws and regulations applicable to medical tourism.
(g) To impose fines and penalties in accordance with the regulation approved to such effect.
(h) To establish one or more regulations for the implementation of the provisions of this chapter.
(i) To acquire, transfer, build, keep custody, and operate the infrastructure needed to facilitate and promote the development of medical tourism in Puerto Rico.
(j) To contract, train, prepare, employ, and supervise the personnel needed to implement the provisions of this chapter and to comply with the objectives of the same and the public policy established for the industry.
(k) To encourage, promote, and facilitate scientific and academic exchanges with other jurisdictions that lead to the development of the industry and to keep Puerto Rico at the forefront of the global scientific and technological developments that impact the industry and its growth and development in the Island.
(l) To delegate or transfer, through partnerships or agreements, the planning, development, maintenance, and operation of the infrastructure and facilities needed to foster and develop the industry and what it has to offer, thus ensuring, in cases of assignment or transfer through public title deeds, that the property reverts to the state at the end of the term specified or, in case that the assignor violates any provision of law or regulation applicable to or in violation of the conditions and requirements specified in the agreement or title deed.
(m) To coordinate all aspects related to health with the Secretary of Health.
(n) To coordinate all aspects related to financial incentives, tax exemption, and any other benefit or responsibility provided with the Secretary of the Treasury.
(o) To design and publish Puerto Rico’s public policy on the Internet so as to promote medical tourism services and products in our jurisdiction.
History —Dec. 15, 2010, No. 196, § 5.