State health 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.EPA Alumni Association: Senior EPA officials discuss early implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, Video, Transcript (see p23).

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. 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. 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.

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.

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.

State health agencies (SHAs)

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

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 HealthCommissionerHeidi Hedberg https://health.alaska.gov Arizona Arizona Department of Health ServicesCabinet Executive OfficerJennifer Cunico https://www.azdhs.govArkansasArkansas Department of Health Secretary of Health Renee Malloryhttps://healthy.arkansas.gov Director, State Health Officer Designee Jennifer Dillaha California California Department of Public HealthDirector, State Public Health OfficerTomás Aragón https://www.cdph.ca.gov Colorado Colorado Department of Public Health and EnvironmentExecutive DirectorJill Hunsaker Ryan Connecticut Connecticut State Department of Public HealthCommissionerManisha Juthani https://portal.ct.gov/dph Delaware Delaware Division of Public Health (Delaware Department of Health and Social Services)Commissioner Steven L. Blessinghttps://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 https://www.in.gov/health/IowaIowa Department of Health and Human ServicesDirector 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/LouisianaLouisiana Office of Public Health (Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals) Surgeon General Ralph L. Abrahamhttps://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/MarylandMaryland Department of Health Secretary of Health Laura Herrera Scotthttps://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-healthMichiganMichigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertelhttps://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.govNebraskaDivision of Public Health (Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services) Chief Executive Officer Steve Corsihttp://www.dhhs.ne.gov Director, Division of Public Health, State Health Officer Designee Charity MenefeeNevadaNevada Division of Public & Behavioural Health (Nevada Department of Health and Human Services) Administrator Cody Phinneyhttp://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 MexicoNew Mexico Department of Health Interim Cabinet Secretary Gina DeBlassiehttps://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.govNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina Division of Public Health (North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services) Acting Director Kelly Kimplehttps://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 HealthDirector of HealthBruce Vanderhoff https://www.odh.ohio.gov Oklahoma Oklahoma State Department of Health Commissioner of Health Keith Reed https://oklahoma.gov/healthOregonPublic Health Division, Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathihttps://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.govSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina Department of Public Health Interim Director Edward Simmerhttps://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/WyomingPublic Health Division (Wyoming Department of Health) State Health Officer Alexia Harristhttps://health.wyo.gov Senior Administrator, State Health Officer Designee Stephanie Sandoval

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

State health agency

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