Local Public Health Systems
At the local level, public health services in Utah are organized into 12 health districts with 55 service delivery sites. Six of the 12 local health departments are single county and six are multi-county districts.The local health districts in Utah include the following:
- Bear River (Box Elder, Cache, Rich counties)
- Central Utah (Juab, Millard, Piute, Sevier, Wayne, Sanpete counties)
- Davis County
- Salt Lake Valley
- Southeastern Utah (Carbon, Emery, Grand, San Juan counties)
- Southwest Utah (Garfield, Iron, Kane, Washington, Beaver counties)
- Summit County
- Tooele County
- TriCounty (Daggett, Duchesne, Uintah counties)
- Utah County
- Wasatch County
- Weber-Morgan
Local health departments provide many essential health services including investigation of disease outbreaks, regulation of known sources of health hazards such as food establishments, and health education and prevention services such as immunizations and preventive health screenings.
The private health care system, including hospitals, physicians, health plans, schools, and private-non-profit agencies, deliver many important local public health services as well.
The highest priority health problems vary among local districts, especially between the more urbanized Wasatch Front districts and the more rural districts.
During the 2002 Winter Olympics, local health departments made sure emergency medical services were available and coordinated, enforced environmental and food regulations, performed disease surveillance and control, and participated in disaster preparedness and public information.
Local health departments are often the front line for reporting communicable diseases and other events, such as signs and symptoms of exposure to biologic agents of terrorism. HAN, Utah's Health Alert Network, consists of a network of local, state, and private health providers who share information through instantaneous electronic transmission to provide a timely response to disease outbreaks whether natural or the result of terrorism.
Utah's public health capacity is provided by both state and local public health entities, as well as community health centers and community based organizations.
Map of Utah's Local Health Districts
