WASHINGTON STATUTES AND CODES

70.24.017 - Definitions.

Definitions.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter:

     (1) "Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome" or "AIDS" means the clinical syndrome of HIV-related illness as defined by the board of health by rule.

     (2) "Board" means the state board of health.

     (3) "Department" means the department of health, or any successor department with jurisdiction over public health matters.

     (4) "Health care provider" means any person who is a member of a profession under RCW 18.130.040 or other person providing medical, nursing, psychological, or other health care services regulated by the department of health.

     (5) "Health care facility" means a hospital, nursing home, neuropsychiatric or mental health facility, home health agency, hospice, child care agency, group care facility, family foster home, clinic, blood bank, blood center, sperm bank, laboratory, or other social service or health care institution regulated or operated by the department of health.

     (6) "HIV-related condition" means any medical condition resulting from infection with HIV including, but not limited to, seropositivity for HIV.

     (7) "Human immunodeficiency virus" or "HIV" means all HIV and HIV-related viruses which damage the cellular branch of the human immune or neurological systems and leave the infected person immunodeficient or neurologically impaired.

     (8) "Test for a sexually transmitted disease" means a test approved by the board by rule.

     (9) "Legal guardian" means a person appointed by a court to assume legal authority for another who has been found incompetent or, in the case of a minor, a person who has legal custody of the child.

     (10) "Local public health officer" means the officer directing the county health department or his or her designee who has been given the responsibility and authority to protect the health of the public within his or her jurisdiction.

     (11) "Person" includes any natural person, partnership, association, joint venture, trust, public or private corporation, or health facility.

     (12) "Release of test results" means a written authorization for disclosure of any sexually transmitted disease test result which is signed, dated, and which specifies to whom disclosure is authorized and the time period during which the release is to be effective.

     (13) "Sexually transmitted disease" means a bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic disease, determined by the board by rule to be sexually transmitted, to be a threat to the public health and welfare, and to be a disease for which a legitimate public interest will be served by providing for regulation and treatment. The board shall designate chancroid, gonorrhea, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, genital herpes simplex, chlamydia, nongonococcal urethritis (NGU), trachomitis, genital human papilloma virus infection, syphilis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection as sexually transmitted diseases, and shall consider the recommendations and classifications of the centers for disease control and other nationally recognized medical authorities in designating other diseases as sexually transmitted.

     (14) "State public health officer" means the secretary of health or an officer appointed by the secretary.