(a) A primary care clinic shall comply with the following requirements regarding health examinations and other public health protections for individuals working in a primary care clinic:

(1) An employee working in a primary care clinic who has direct contact with patients shall have a health examination within six months prior to employment or within 15 days after employment. Each examination shall include a medical history and physical evaluation. A written examination report, signed by the person performing the examination, shall verify that the employee is able to perform his or her assigned duties.

(2) At the time of employment, testing for tuberculosis shall consist of a purified protein derivative intermediate strength intradermal skin test or any other test for tuberculosis infection recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and licensed by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If a positive reaction is obtained from the skin test, or any other test for tuberculosis infection recommended by the CDC and licensed by the FDA, the employee shall be referred to a physician to determine if a chest X-ray is necessary. Annual examinations shall be performed only when medically indicated.

(3) The clinic shall maintain a health record for each employee that includes reports of all employment-related health examinations. These records shall be kept for a minimum of three years following termination of employment.

(4) An employee known to have or exhibiting signs or symptoms of a communicable disease shall not be permitted to work until he or she submits a physician’s certification that the employee is sufficiently free of the communicable disease to return to his or her assigned duties.

(b) Any regulation adopted before January 1, 2004, that imposes a standard on a primary care clinic that is more stringent than described in this section is void.

(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 24, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2008.)