Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1948 )

TEE ATTORNEY GENERAL 3 i OF TEXAS Hon. oeo. w. cox, M. I). Opinion No. V-548 State Realth OSSiaer Department of Health He: Legality 0S the mini- Auetin, Texas mumstandards of oper- ation and maintenance of hospitals receiving Federal aid under Pub- law Law 725,79th Con- gresa. Dear Sir: Your request for an opinion states:~ "The United States Public Health Service has requested an Attorney Qen- eral's opinion relative to legality OS the minimum standards of operation and .'~ maintenance OS hospitals reoeivlng fed- era1 aid under Public Law 72 OS ,.the 79th Congress. Section 623 7d) sets up the requirements for minimum standards of operation and maintenance for such Sederally aided projects. "The standards set up by the State Board of Health's construction program are included In the Texas State Plan for Hospital Constructlon, copy of which Is forwarded herewith." Subdivision (a), Section 623, Public Law 725 of the 79th Congress, is, in part, as follows: II . . . Such State plan must -- "(7) provide minimum standards (to be fixed in the discretion of the State) for the maintenance and operation of hos- ~pitals which recqive Federal aid under this part; . . . Subdivision (d) of the same Section is as fol- Hon. Geo. W. Cox, M. D.,page 2 (V-548) lows: “IS any State, prior to July 1, 1948,~ has not enacted legislation providing that compliance with minimum standards of main- tenance and operation shall be required in the case of hospitals which shall have re- ceived federal aid under this title, such State shall not be entitled to any further allotments under Section 624.” Ii. B. 503, 50th Legislature 1947, is known as the “Texas Hospital Survey and Construction Act’ and was enacted iti coinpllance with Public Law 725, 79th.Con- grese. It provides specifically that the State Health Officer, with the advice of the Hospital Advisory Couu- cll, is authorized and directed to provide such methods of .adminlatratlon, appoint a Director and other ‘Person- nel of the Dlvisi&,-ind take such other action as mae be necessary to compls with the reaulrements of the Fed- ai?al’-Act. Thenpromulgation of’mlnimum standards Is a hectitisary’prerequlsite to receipt df further aid. Pur- suant to such authority and in view of slich requirement a State Plan .Sor the cons’tructltin of hospitals was pro- mulgated and approved by- the State B.oard OS @alth on the 8th day of September’, 1947; and by the Hospital Advisory Council on September 15, 1947. In euoh plan, minimum standards of operiitlon and malntenanoe are set forth on page 73, et seq., and ‘desi.gn&ted therein as Exhibit G. It is specifically provided that all insti-. tutidns receiving federal aid under Public, Law 725 shall comply with the minimum standards of. operation and maln- tenance therein set forth. lo question fs here raised- as to the power of the Legislature to delegate this rule- making power. Although H. B.~ 503 does not specifically pro- vide for the promulgation of rules fdr the operation and maintenance for federally aided projects, neverthe- less the intent OS H. B. 503, taken as a whole, is to comply in every respect with the Federal Hospital Sur- vey and Construction Act. The Texas statute, by impll- cation delegates to the State Health officer power and duty to promulgate such rules. It is, therefore, the opinion of this Department that H. B..503, 50th Legls- lature 1947, is sufficiently broad in scope to provide ample authority for the promulgation of the minimum standards of operation and maintenance 'as set forth in the State Plan for the construction of Texas hospitals. 423 Hon. Geo. W. Cox, M.: D., page 3 ``~-!WI Having complied with such requirement, the State of' Texaa thus. fulfills the minimum standard> provision of PubliqLaw 725. 1_ SUMMARY ,- H; B. 503* 50th Legislature ~1947, Is sufficiently broad in scope~to'authorlze the promulgation of the standards of oper: ation and maintenance as provided in the State Plan for hospital construction in Texas and are legally sufficient to comp;y,, with Public Law 725, 79th Congress. Yours very trulilg;, ATTORREYGENERALOF TEXAS BW:mw : "' Bkrnell~Waldre,p' '~ :~Asslstant APPROVED: &&.d.&! I:.,