Part 3 — Communicable Diseases and Public Health Emergencies
39 Recalcitrant Patients Issue of certificate
nurse practitioner knows or has reason to believe that a person
(a) is infected with a disease prescribed in the regulations for
the purposes of this section, and
(b) refuses or neglects
(i) to submit
(A) to a medical examination for the purpose of
ascertaining whether the person is infected with that
disease, or
(B) to medical, surgical or other remedial treatment that
has been prescribed by a physician and that is
necessary to render the person non-infectious, or
(ii) to comply with any other conditions that have been
prescribed by a physician as being necessary to mitigate
the disease or limit its spread to others,
the physician, community health nurse, midwife or nurse
practitioner shall immediately notify a medical officer of health
having jurisdiction over the area of Alberta in which the person is
located in the prescribed form.
(2) The medical officer of health shall issue a certificate in the
prescribed form where the medical officer of health is satisfied,
taking into account any evidence that the medical officer of health
considers relevant, that
(a) the person meets the criteria set out in subsection (1)(a) and
(b),
(b) the person poses a risk to mitigating the disease or limiting
its spread to others, and
(c) there is no other reasonable means of mitigating the disease
or limiting its spread to others.
(3) A certificate pursuant to subsection (2) must be issued within
72 hours of the date of service of the notification pursuant to
subsection (1).
RSA 2000
(4) Where the physician referred to in subsection (1) is a medical
officer of health having jurisdiction over the area of Alberta in
which the allegedly infected person is located, the physician may
issue the certificate referred to in subsection (2).
(5) A person in respect of whom a certificate is issued may apply
to a judge of the Court of King's Bench at any time for cancellation
of the certificate.
(6) The application shall be served on
(a) the medical officer of health who issued the certificate, and
(b) the chief executive officer of the facility in which the
applicant is detained, if the applicant is under detention at
the time of the application,
not less than 2 days before the application is returnable.
(7) Notwithstanding subsection (6), a judge of the Court, on the ex
parte application of the person referred to in subsection (5), may
dispense with the service of the application under subsection (6) or
authorize the giving of a shorter period of notice.
(8) Where the judge considers it appropriate to do so, the judge
may order that the application under subsection (5) be heard in
private.
(9) The judge may grant or refuse the order applied for and may
make any other order the judge considers appropriate.
RSA 2000 cP-37 s39;2002 c20 s5;2009 c53 s149;2016 c25 s19;
2021 c15 s12;AR 217/2022;2025 c10 s47(17)