Mich. Comp. Laws » Michigan Compiled Laws / Chapter 333 / Act 368 of 1978
Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.2253 (2026)

Epidemic; emergency order and procedures; avian influenza; conditions requiring assistance of department of agriculture and rural development; visitation within qualified health care facility; LINDA; definitions.

✓ current as of July 2026
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PUBLIC HEALTH CODE


Act 368 of 1978


333.2253 Epidemic; emergency order and procedures; avian influenza; conditions requiring assistance of department of agriculture and rural development; visitation within qualified health care facility; LINDA; definitions.

Sec. 2253.

    (1) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), if the director determines that control of an epidemic is necessary to protect the public health, the director by emergency order may make a declaration of that determination and may within that emergency order prohibit the gathering of people for any purpose and establish procedures to be followed during the epidemic to ensure continuation of essential public health services and enforcement of health laws. Emergency procedures are not limited to this code.

    (2) If an epidemic described in subsection (1) involves avian influenza or another virus or disease that is or may be spread by contact with animals, the department of agriculture and rural development shall cooperate with and assist the director in the director's response to the epidemic.

    (3) On request from the director, the department of agriculture and rural development shall assist the department in any review or update of the department's pandemic influenza plan under section 5112.

    (4) Beginning June 1, 2023, an emergency order issued under subsection (1) may prohibit or otherwise limit any visitation of a patient or resident in a qualified health care facility for a period not to exceed 30 days after the date the director first declares that control of the epidemic is necessary to protect the public health.

    (5) Beginning June 1, 2023, because LINDA, after 30 days after the director first declares that control of an epidemic is necessary to protect the public health in an emergency order issued under subsection (1), all of the following apply:

    (a) Subject to subdivision (b), the emergency order must not prohibit or otherwise limit a patient representative from visiting a patient or resident with a cognitive impairment in a qualified health care facility.

    (b) The emergency order may do any of the following:

    (i) Implement reasonable safety measures before or during a patient representative's visit to a patient or resident with a cognitive impairment in the qualified health care facility, including, but not limited to, prescreening or testing a patient representative, imposing a visit duration on a patient representative, restricting the number of patient representatives who may visit at 1 time, and requiring a patient representative to preschedule a visit.

    (ii) Establish procedures for the visitation of a patient or resident with a cognitive impairment in a qualified health care facility, if the director determines that establishing the procedures is vital to maintaining a safe health care infrastructure in this state. The director shall consult with qualified health care facilities before establishing procedures under this subparagraph.

    (6) As used in this section:

    (a) "Assisted living facility" means an unlicensed entity that offers community-based residential care for at least 3 unrelated adults who are 65 years of age or older or who need assistance with activities of daily living that are available 24 hours a day, including, but not limited to, personal, supportive, or intermittent health-related services.

    (b) "Cognitive impairment" means a deficiency in the patient's or resident's mental capability or loss of intellectual ability, either of which affects the patient's or resident's comprehension, decision-making, reasoning, adaptive functioning, judgment, learning, or memory and that materially affects the patient's or resident's ability to function. A cognitive impairment may be a temporary short-term change in cognition, a medically induced change in cognition, or a long-term ongoing change in cognition.

    (c) "Family member" means an individual related to a patient or resident by blood, marriage, or adoption who is within the fifth degree of kinship to the patient or resident.

    (d) "LINDA" means loved individuals need dedicated attention.

    (e) "Patient representative" means any of the following:

    (i) A family member.

    (ii) A patient advocate as that term is defined in section 1106 of the estates and protected individuals code, 1998 PA 386, MCL 700.1106.

    (iii) An individual who is named as the attorney-in-fact under a durable or nondurable power of attorney for the patient or resident.

    (f) "Qualified health care facility" means any of the following:

    (i) A health facility or agency as that term is defined in section 20106.

    (ii) An assisted living facility.

    (iii) A physician's private practice office.

    

    

History: 1978, Act 368, Eff. Sept. 30, 1978 ;-- Am. 2006, Act 157, Imd. Eff. May 26, 2006 ;-- Am. 2022, Act 274, Eff. Mar. 29, 2023

PopularName Notes:

Act 368
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (9 in the last 5 years), 2020–2025 · leading case: Skatemore, Inc. v. Gretchen Whitmer, 40 F.4th 727 (6th Cir. 2022).
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Skatemore, Inc. v. Gretchen Whitmer, 40 F.4th 727 (6th Cir. 2022). “On November 15, 2020, MDHHS Director Robert Gordon2 issued an order pursuant to his independent authority under Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.2253 . Director Gordon’s emergency order, which became effective on November 18, 2020, mirrored Governor Whitmer’s EOs insofar as it prohibited…”
T & v. Assocs. Inc v. Dir. of Health & Human Servs. (Mich. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 49× “The executive branch, however, through defendant the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, acting under MCL 333.2253, continued issuing comparable orders unabated, similarly regulating many of the daily activities of Michigan residents, including their ability…”
D T & v. Assocs. Inc v. Dir. of Health & Human Servs. (Mich. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 12× “preme Court ruled that the Governor lacked statutory authority to unilaterally prescribe protective measures to address the COVID-19 emergency, In re Certified Questions From United States Dist Court, 506 Mich 332 ; 958 NW2d 1 (2020), the Director of the Department of Health and…”
In Re Contempt of Marlena Pavlos-Hackney (Mich. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 10× “Appellants contended that MCL 333.2253 was declared by this Court to be unconstitutional and that any new contempt orders could not be based on this statute.”
Bormuth v. Whitmer (E.D. Mich. 2021). · cites it 9× “) He argues that: (i) Defendant Whitmer “issues her emergency orders through her agent,” Defendant Gordon; (ii) the orders are issued under the authority of Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.2253 ; and, (iii) the October 5, October 29, and November 15 MDHHS orders “have created new claims…”
in Re Certified Question (Midwest Inst of Health V (Mich. 2020). · cites it 5× “But this law is redundant alongside the EPGA.”
Michigan Dept of Agric. & Rural Dev. v. Zante Inc (Mich. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 5× “In November 2020, the Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued an order under the authority granted by MCL 333.2253 of the Public Health Code, MCL 333.”
Concerned Parents of Emmet Cnty. v. Health Dept of Nw. Mi (Mich. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 5× “In T & V Assoc, Inc v Dir of Health and Human Servs, 347 Mich App 486 ; 15 NW3d 313 (2023), the plaintiff, a catering service and banquet facility, sued the Department of Health and Human Services Director, arguing that her COVID-19 order limiting indoor food services was…”
The Brown Jug, Inc. v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., The (E.D. Mich. 2021). “LAWS § 333.2253). Plaintiff alleges that “[t]he Policy is an all-risk or open peril policy, meaning the Policy cover[s] all direct loss unless the loss is expressly excluded.”
Sanders 305405 v. Macauley (W.D. Mich. 2022). “See Emergency Order under MCL 333.2253 – Requirements for Prisons (Jan.”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.2253(1) — 2 cases
T & v. Assocs. Inc v. Dir. of Health & Human Servs. (Mich. Ct. App. 2023). “The executive branch, however, through defendant the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, acting under MCL 333.2253, continued issuing comparable orders unabated, similarly regulating many of the daily activities of Michigan residents, including their ability…”
D T & v. Assocs. Inc v. Dir. of Health & Human Servs. (Mich. Ct. App. 2023). “preme Court ruled that the Governor lacked statutory authority to unilaterally prescribe protective measures to address the COVID-19 emergency, In re Certified Questions From United States Dist Court, 506 Mich 332 ; 958 NW2d 1 (2020), the Director of the Department of Health and…”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.2253(4) — 1 case
D T & v. Assocs. Inc v. Dir. of Health & Human Servs. (Mich. Ct. App. 2023). “preme Court ruled that the Governor lacked statutory authority to unilaterally prescribe protective measures to address the COVID-19 emergency, In re Certified Questions From United States Dist Court, 506 Mich 332 ; 958 NW2d 1 (2020), the Director of the Department of Health and…”
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