(a) (1) The State Department of Health Services shall establish a permanent Office of Binational Border Health to facilitate cooperation between health officials and health professionals in California and Mexico, to reduce the risk of disease in the California border region, and in those areas directly affected by border health conditions.
(2) The department shall administer the office, and shall seek available public or private funding, or both, to support the activities of the office.
(b) The Office of Binational Border Health shall convene a voluntary community advisory group of representatives of border community-based stakeholders to develop a strategic plan with short-term, intermediate, and long-range goals and implementation actions. The advisory group shall include no more than 12 California representatives. The advisory group shall include, but not be limited to, members from local government, hospitals, health plans, community-based organizations, universities, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Imperial County health departments, and a representative from an association of local health officers specializing in border health issues. The office shall invite and request appropriate participation from representatives of the Baja California health department and other Mexican health departments affected by border health issues. Recommendations resulting from the strategic plan shall be developed and shared in consultation with the California appointees to the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission established pursuant to Section 290n of Title 22 of the United States Code, including the Director of Health Services. The office shall prepare an annual border health status report, and shall submit it to the Director of Health Services, the Legislature, and the Governor.
(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 765, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2000.)