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121.1 Policy
College of Eastern Idaho’s decisions involving persons who have communicable diseases shall be based on current and well-informed medical judgments concerning the disease, the risks of transmitting the illness to others, the symptoms and special circumstances of each individual who has a communicable disease, and a careful weighing of the identified risks and the available alternatives for responding to an employee or student with a communicable disease.
Communicable diseases include, but are not limited to, measles, influenza, viral hepatitis-A (infectious hepatitis), viral hepatitis-B (serum hepatitis), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infection), AIDS, AIDS-Related Complex (ARC), leprosy, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), coronavirus/COVID, and tuberculosis. CEI may choose to broaden this definition within its best interests and in accordance with information received through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or Eastern Idaho Public Health (EIPH).
CEI will not discriminate against any job applicant or employee based on the individual having a communicable disease. Applicants, employees, and students shall not be denied access to the workplace/campus solely on the grounds that they have a communicable disease. CEI reserves the right to exclude a person with a communicable disease from the workplace/campus facilities, programs and functions if the organization finds that, based on a medical determination, such restriction is necessary for the welfare of the person who has the communicable disease and/or the welfare of others within the workplace/campus.
CEI will comply with all applicable statutes and regulations that protect the privacy of persons who have a communicable disease. Every effort will be made to ensure procedurally sufficient safeguards to maintain the personal confidence about persons who have communicable diseases.
In order to prevent transmission of communicable diseases, pursuant to Idaho Code § 33-2145, only CEI’s Board of Trustees has the authority to close the College or any of its buildings or campuses, to limit its programs or activities, or to require other measures at the college for the purpose of preventing the spread of contagious or infectious disease.
CEI’s Board of Trustees and/or the College acting in accordance with this policy may not be held to violate any order issued by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare pursuant to section 56-1003(7), Idaho Code; Eastern Idaho Public Health (EIPH) pursuant to section 39-414(2), Idaho Code; or a city pursuant to section 50-304, Idaho Code.
In dealing with all communicable diseases, CEI will strongly consider the direction and guidance of the State of Idaho, or local and/or national health agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and/or Eastern Idaho Public Health (EIPH).
121.2 Procedures
CEI recognizes that employees and students with communicable diseases may be able to continue their employment and class attendance as their condition allows. Medical conditions are confidential and precautions will be taken by college personnel to ensure that information regarding the health of the employee or student is provided on a “need to know” basis only. In order for potential cases to be verified and appropriate steps taken, suspected cases of communicable diseases should be confidentially reported. Suspected cases involving students should be reported to the Title IX Officer, unless otherwise outlined in a procedure for a specific public health emergency. Suspected cases involving employees should be reported to the office of Human Resources unless otherwise outlined in a procedure for a specific public health emergency. Decisions involving persons who have communicable diseases shall be based on current and well-informed medical judgments concerning the disease, the risks of transmitting the illness to others, the symptoms and special circumstances of each individual who has a communicable disease, and a careful weighing of the identified risks and the available alternatives for responding to the person with a communicable disease.
Universal precautions will be used in first aid and in all situations that could involve contact with or transmission of communicable diseases of any kind. All employees treating people with open wounds or who are involved in handling blood, blood products or body fluids shall be offered the opportunity for training in proper procedures following Center for Disease Control (CDC) or Eastern Idaho Public Health (EIPH) guidelines; these procedures should be employed in all instances. Employees in the custodial department will be given the opportunity to receive the Hepatitis B vaccine, at the expense of the college. The forms used to either receive the vaccine or decline the vaccine are available in the Human Resources Office.
During a pandemic, the College of Eastern Idaho will follow the recommended guidelines from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and/or the Eastern Idaho Public Health (EIPH) to help minimize the spread of the communicable disease.