135A.4  Governmental public health advisory council.
  1.  A governmental public health advisory council is established to advise the department and make policy recommendations to the director of the department concerning administration, implementation, and coordination of this chapter and to make recommendations to the department regarding the governmental public health system. The council shall meet at least quarterly. The council shall consist of no fewer than fifteen members and no more than twenty-three members. The members shall be appointed by the director. The director may solicit and consider recommendations from professional organizations, associations, and academic institutions in making appointments to the council.
  2.  Council members shall not be members of the governmental public health evaluation committee.
  3.  Council members shall serve for a term of two years and may be reappointed for a maximum of three consecutive terms. Initial appointment shall be in staggered terms. Vacancies shall be filled for the remainder of the original appointment.
  4.  The membership of the council shall satisfy all of the following requirements:
  a.  One member who has expertise in injury prevention.
  b.  One member who has expertise in environmental health.
  c.  One member who has expertise in emergency preparedness.
  d.  One member who has expertise in health promotion and chronic disease prevention.
  e.  One member who has epidemiological expertise in communicable and infectious disease prevention and control.
  f.  One member representing each of Iowa’s six public health regions who is an employee of a designated local public health agency or member of a local board of health. Such members shall include a minimum of one local public health administrator and one physician member of a local board of health.
  g.  Two members who are representatives of the department.
  h.  The director of the state hygienic laboratory at the university of Iowa, or the director’s designee.
  i.  At least one representative from academic institutions which grant undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in public health or other related health field and are accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency as determined by the United States secretary of education. For purposes of this paragraph, “accredited” means a certification of the quality of an institution of higher education.
  j.  Two members who serve on a county board of supervisors.
  k.  Four nonvoting, ex officio members who shall consist of four members of the general assembly, two from the senate and two from the house of representatives, with not more than one member from each chamber being from the same political party. The two senators shall be designated, one member each, by the majority leader of the senate after consultation with the president and by the minority leader of the senate. The two representatives shall be designated, one member each, by the speaker of the house of representatives after consultation with the majority leader of the house of representatives and by the minority leader of the house of representatives.
  l.  A member of the state board of health who shall be a nonvoting, ex officio member.
  5.  The council may utilize other relevant public health expertise when necessary to carry out its roles and responsibilities.
  6.  The council shall do all of the following:
  a.  Advise the department and make policy recommendations to the director of the department concerning administration, implementation, and coordination of this chapter and the governmental public health system.
  b.  Propose to the director public health standards that should be utilized for voluntary accreditation of designated local public health agencies and the department that include but are not limited to the organizational capacity and public health service components described in section 135A.6, subsection 1, by October 1, 2009.
  c.  Recommend to the department an accrediting entity and identify the roles and responsibilities for the oversight and implementation of the voluntary accreditation of designated local public health agencies and the department by January 2, 2010. This shall include completion of a pilot accreditation process for one designated local public health agency and the department by July 1, 2011.
  d.  Recommend to the director strategies to implement voluntary accreditation of designated local public health agencies and the department effective January 2, 2012.
  e.  Periodically review and make recommendations to the department regarding revisions to the public health standards pursuant to paragraph “b”, as needed and based on reports prepared by the governmental public health evaluation committee pursuant to section 135A.5.
  f.  Review rules developed and adopted by the state board of health under this chapter and make recommendations to the department for revisions to further promote implementation of this chapter and modernization of the governmental public health system.
  g.  Form and utilize subcommittees as necessary to carry out the duties of the council.
2009 Acts, ch 182, §118, 126; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §27