SECTION 1. The first paragraph of section 5 of chapter 17 of the General laws, as appearing in the 1998 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting before the first sentence the following sentences: -  The commissioner shall, with the approval of the public health council, designate a nurse deputy commissioner who is a registered nurse.  Said nurse deputy commissioner shall be a graduate of an accredited four-year college or university nursing program, shall have a master’s degree in public health or a related field and shall have not less than five years of administrative experience of which two years shall have been in the organization, management or delivery of health care services.  The nurse deputy commissioner shall be subject to chapter thirty-one and in addition to the performance of such duties as may be prescribed by the commissioner shall, under the supervision of the commissioner, be responsible for statewide planning, policy development and the coordination of clinical decision-making, communication and resource management for district health officers and programs within divisions of the department, including but not limited to; the division of family and community health, the division of health care quality, the division of communicable and venereal diseases, the division of alcoholism, the division of drug rehabilitation and the division of food and drugs.

SECTION 2. Section 5 of chapter 17 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1998 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the words “The commissioner may,” and inserting in place thereof the words: - In addition to said nurse deputy commissioner, the commissioner may,