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State health agency

American state-level government agency From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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]

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]

More information SHA, Health Officer’s position ...
State SHA Health Officer’s position Health Officer’s name Website
Alabama Alabama Department of Public Health State Health Officer Scott Harris http://alabamapublichealth.gov
Alaska Alaska Department of Health Commissioner Heidi Hedberg https://health.alaska.gov
Arizona Arizona Department of Health Services Cabinet Executive Officer Jennifer Cunico https://www.azdhs.gov
Arkansas Arkansas Department of Health Secretary of Health Renee Mallory https://healthy.arkansas.gov
Director, State Health Officer Designee Jennifer Dillaha
California California Department of Public Health Director, State Public Health Officer Tomás Aragón https://www.cdph.ca.gov
Colorado Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan
Connecticut Connecticut State Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani https://portal.ct.gov/dph
Delaware Delaware Division of Public Health (Delaware Department of Health and Social Services) Commissioner Steven L. Blessing https://dhss.delaware.gov/dph/
District of Columbia District of Columbia Department of Health Director Ayanna Bennett https://dchealth.dc.gov/
Florida Florida Department of Health Secretary and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo http://www.floridahealth.gov
Georgia Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner and State Health Officer Kathleen Toomey https://dph.georgia.gov
Hawaii Hawaii State Department of Health Director Kenneth Fink https://health.hawaii.gov
Idaho Division of Public Health (Idaho Department of Health and Welfare) Public Health Administrator Elke Shaw-Tulloch https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov
Illinois Illinois Department of Public Health Director of Public Health Sameer Vohra http://www.dph.illinois.gov
Indiana Indiana Department of Health State Health Commissioner Lindsay Weaver[4] https://www.in.gov/health/
Iowa Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia https://hhs.iowa.gov/
State Medical Director, State Health Officer Designee Robert Kruse
Kansas Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Janet Stanek https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/
Kentucky Kentucky Department for Public Health (Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services) Commissioner Steven J. Stack https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/
Louisiana Louisiana Office of Public Health (Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals) Surgeon General Ralph L. Abraham https://ldh.la.gov/
Secretary Michael Harrington
Maine Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention (Maine Department of Health and Human Services) Director Puthiery Va https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/
Maryland Maryland Department of Health Secretary of Health Laura Herrera Scott https://health.maryland.gov
Deputy Secretary, State Health Officer Designee Nilesh Kalyanaraman
Massachusetts Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Robert Goldstein https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-public-health
Michigan Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs
Chief Medical Executive, State Health Officer Designee Natasha Bagdasarian
Minnesota Minnesota Department of Health Health Commissioner Brooke Cunningham https://www.health.state.mn.us/
Mississippi Mississippi State Department of Health State Health Officer Daniel Edney https://msdh.ms.gov
Missouri Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Paula Nickelson https://health.mo.gov
Montana Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services State Medical Director Douglas Harrington https://dphhs.mt.gov
Nebraska Division of Public Health (Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services) Chief Executive Officer Steve Corsi http://www.dhhs.ne.gov
Director, Division of Public Health, State Health Officer Designee Charity Menefee
Nevada Nevada Division of Public & Behavioural Health (Nevada Department of Health and Human Services) Administrator Cody Phinney http://dhhs.nv.gov
Chief Medical Officer, State Health Officer Designee Ihsan Azzam
New Hampshire New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services Associate Commissioner Patricia Tilley https://www.dhhs.nh.gov
New Jersey New Jersey Department of Health Health Commissioner Raynard Washington https://www.nj.gov/health/
New Mexico New Mexico Department of Health Interim Cabinet Secretary Gina DeBlassie https://nmhealth.org
Chief Medical Officer, State Health Officer Designee Miranda Durham
New York New York State Department of Health Commissioner of Health James McDonald https://www.health.ny.gov
North Carolina North Carolina Division of Public Health (North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services) Acting Director Kelly Kimple https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/public-health
State Health Director, Chief Medical Officer, State Health Officer Designee Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson
North Dakota North Dakota Department of Health State Health Officer Nizar Wehbi https://www.hhs.nd.gov/health
Ohio Ohio Department of Health Director of Health Bruce Vanderhoff https://www.odh.ohio.gov
Oklahoma Oklahoma State Department of Health Commissioner of Health Keith Reed https://oklahoma.gov/health
Oregon Public Health Division, Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph
Public Health Director, State Health Officer Designee Naomi Adeline-Biggs
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary of Health Debra Bogen https://www.health.pa.gov
Rhode Island Rhode Island Department of Health Director Jerome Larkin https://health.ri.gov
South Carolina South Carolina Department of Public Health Interim Director Edward Simmer https://dph.sc.gov/
Director of Public Health, State Health Officer Designee Brannon Traxler
South Dakota South Dakota Department of Health Secretary of Health Melissa Magstadt https://doh.sd.gov
Tennessee Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Ralph Alvarado https://www.tn.gov/health
Texas Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner Jennifer Shuford https://www.dshs.state.tx.us
Utah Utah Department of Health and Human Services Executive Medical Director Stacey Bank https://dhhs.utah.gov/
Vermont Vermont Department of Health Commissioner of Health Mark Levine https://www.healthvermont.gov
Virginia Virginia Department of Health State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton http://www.vdh.virginia.gov
Washington Washington State Department of Health Secretary of Health Dennis Worsham https://www.doh.wa.gov
West Virginia West Virginia Bureau for Public Health (West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources) State Health Officer Matthew Christiansen https://dhhr.wv.gov/bph/
Wisconsin Wisconsin Department of Health Services State Health Officer, Division of Public Health Administrator Paula Tran https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/dph/
Wyoming Public Health Division (Wyoming Department of Health) State Health Officer Alexia Harrist https://health.wyo.gov
Senior Administrator, State Health Officer Designee Stephanie Sandoval
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Further reading

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

See also

References

External links

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