State health agency

Short description: American state-level government agency

A state health agency (SHA), or state department of health, is a department or agency of the state governments of the United States focused on public health. The state secretary of health is a constitutional or at times a statutory official in several states of the United States. The position is the chief executive official for the state's state health agency (or equivalent), chief administrative officer for the state's Board of Health (or equivalent), or both.

Following passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, during the first ten years of the program the state health departments were given new and important roles under the law. Due to new grants available, they had enhanced their programs and had many more resources to oversee and help utilities come into compliance with drinking water standards, and they were able to develop other related activities like the capacity for doing risk assessments on new contaminants of concern.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Terminology
* 2 Responsibilities
* 3 State health agencies (SHAs)
* 4 Further reading
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## Terminology

Although the vast majority of these agencies are officially called "departments," the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials adopted "state health agency" as the generic term to reflect the fact that a substantial number of these agencies are no longer state "departments" in the traditional sense of a cabinet-level organizational unit dedicated exclusively to public health.[2] During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, at least 20 states and the District of Columbia merged these departments with other government agencies that provide social services, welfare, or other types of unrelated services.[2] The result is that in those jurisdictions, the state government agency that actually provides public health services is but one of several units inside a large cabinet-level agency.[2]

## Responsibilities

State health departments have different names and responsibilities; in some states they are top-level administrative agencies, while in other states they are a division or bureau of another office. Health departments are usually responsible for public health, including preventive medicine, epidemiology, vaccinations, environmental health (sometimes including health inspections), and the licensing of health care professionals; the collection and archiving of vital records such as birth and death certificates and sometimes marriage and divorce certificates; health statistics; developmental disabilities; mental health; occupational safety and health; receiving and recording reports of notifiable diseases; and tobacco control.[citation needed]

In some states, state health departments may additionally be responsible for social services and welfare, environmental protection/pollution control, or the operation of the state psychiatric hospital. Some states have a Surgeon General.[citation needed]

## State health agencies (SHAs)

The following are state health agencies as identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:[3]

State  | SHA  | Head of health  | Name  | Website

|
|
|
|

Alabama  | Alabama Department of Public Health  | State Health Officer  | Scott Harris, MD, MPH  | http://alabamapublichealth.gov
Alaska | Alaska Department of Health and Social Services  |  |  | http://dhss.alaska.gov
Arizona  | Arizona Department of Health Services  |  |  | https://www.azdhs.gov
Arkansas  | Arkansas Department of Health  | Secretary of Health  | Nathaniel Smith, MD  | https://healthy.arkansas.gov
California | California Health and Human Services Agency  |  |  | https://www.cdph.ca.gov
Colorado  | Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment  |  |  | https://www.colorado.gov/cdphe
Connecticut  | Connecticut Department of Public Health  |  |  | https://portal.ct.gov/dph
Florida  | Florida Department of Health  | Secretary and Surgeon General  | Vacant[4] | http://www.floridahealth.gov
Georgia  | Georgia Department of Public Health  |  |  | https://dph.georgia.gov
Hawaii  | Hawaii State Department of Health  |  |  | https://health.hawaii.gov
Idaho  | Idaho Department of Health and Welfare  |  |  | https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov
Illinois  | Illinois Department of Public Health  |  |  | http://www.dph.illinois.gov
Indiana | Indiana Department of Health  | State Health Commissioner  | Kristina Box, MD, FACOG[5] | https://www.in.gov/health/
Iowa  | Iowa Department of Public Health  | Director  | Gerd Clabaugh, MPA[6] | https://idph.iowa.gov
Kansas | Kansas Department of Health and Environment  | Secretary & State Health Officer  | Robert Moser, MD  | http://www.kdheks.gov
Kentucky  | Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services  |  |  | https://chfs.ky.gov
Louisiana  | Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals  |  |  | http://ldh.la.gov
Maine  | Maine Department of Health and Human Services  |  |  | https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/
Maryland  | Maryland Department of Health  |  |  | https://health.maryland.gov
Massachusetts | Massachusetts Department of Public Health  |  |  | https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-public-health
Michigan  | Michigan Department of Community Health  |  |  | https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs
Mississippi  | Mississippi State Department of Health  | State Health Officer  | Daniel Edney, MD, FACP, FASAM  | https://msdh.ms.gov
Missouri  | Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services  |  |  | https://health.mo.gov
Montana  | Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services  |  |  | https://dphhs.mt.gov
Nebraska  | Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services  |  |  | http://www.dhhs.ne.gov
Nevada  | Nevada Department of Health and Human Services  |  |  | http://dhhs.nv.gov
New Hampshire  | New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services  |  |  | https://www.dhhs.nh.gov
New Jersey  | New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services  |  |  | https://www.nj.gov/health/
New Mexico  | New Mexico Department of Health  |  |  | https://nmhealth.org
New York  | New York State Department of Health  |  |  | https://www.health.ny.gov
North Carolina  | North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services  |  |  | https://www.ncdhhs.gov
North Dakota  | North Dakota Department of Health  |  |  | https://www.health.nd.gov
Ohio  | Ohio Department of Health  |  |  | https://www.odh.ohio.gov
Oklahoma  | Oklahoma State Department of Health  | State Health Commissioner  | Dr. Terry Cline  | https://www.ok.gov/health/
Oregon  | Oregon Health Authority  |  |  | https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph
Pennsylvania  | Pennsylvania Department of Health  |  |  | https://www.health.pa.gov
Rhode Island  | Rhode Island Department of Health  |  |  | https://health.ri.gov
South Carolina  | South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control  |  |  | https://www.scdhec.gov
South Dakota  | South Dakota Department of Health  |  |  | https://doh.sd.gov
Tennessee | Tennessee Department of Health  |  |  | https://www.tn.gov/health
Texas | Texas Department of State Health Services  |  |  | https://www.dshs.state.tx.us
Utah  | Utah Department of Health  |  |  | https://health.utah.gov
Vermont  | Vermont Department of Health  |  |  | https://www.healthvermont.gov
Virginia  | Virginia Department of Health  |  |  | http://www.vdh.virginia.gov
Washington  | Washington State Department of Health  |  |  | https://www.doh.wa.gov
West Virginia  | West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources  |  |  | https://dhhr.wv.gov
Wisconsin  | Wisconsin Department of Health Services  |  |  | https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov
Wyoming  | Wyoming Department of Health  |  |  | https://health.wyo.gov

## Further reading

EPA Alumni Association: Drinking Water, Half Century of Progress – a brief history of U.S. efforts to protect drinking water

## See also

* Health departments in the United States
* State education agency
* Health care in the United States
* United States Department of Health and Human Services
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

## References

1. ↑ EPA Alumni Association: Senior EPA officials discuss early implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, Video, Transcript (see p23).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jarris, Paul E.; Sellers, Katie (2017). "Chapter 8: The State Public Health Agencies". in Erwin, Paul C.; Brownson, Ross C.. Scutchfield and Keck's Principles of Public Health Practice (4th ed.). Boston: Cengage. p. 122. ISBN 9781305855717. https://books.google.com/books?id=uJJ4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA122. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
3. ↑ "Public Health Resources: State or Territorial Health Departments". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/international/relres.html. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
4. ↑ "Surgeon General and Secretary - Florida Department of Health". http://www.floridahealth.gov/about-the-department-of-health/about-us/ssg/index.html.
5. ↑ "State Health Commissioner". State of Indiana. https://www.in.gov/health/about-the-agency/state-health-commissioner/.
6. ↑ "Director's Office". http://idph.iowa.gov/do.

## External links

* StatePublicHealth.org \- "State public health information and analysis."
* hss.alaska.gov \- "Alaska Department of Health and Social Services"
* Rutgers University 12 Week Environment and Public Health course \- "Rutgers University 12 Week Environment and Public Health Course prepares students for public health agency careers"

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