Florida Department of Health

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The Florida Department of Health is responsible for protecting the public health and safety of the residents and visitors of the State of Florida. It is a cabinet level agency of the state government, headed by a State surgeon general who reports to the Governor.

The Florida Department of Health operates County Health Departments in all 67 of the State's Counties. The agency employs more than 17,000 persons. It has achieved substantial successes with two year old immunizations, tobacco control, and statewide preparedness response efforts. The agency is considered a national leader in preparedness, having experienced a number of hurricanes in recent years.

The Florida Department of Health's responsibilities include epidemiology, investigating foodborne, zoonotic and water-borne diseases, emergency preparedness and bioterrorism, controlling communicable disease, health promotion and education, school health, women's health, public health dentistry and oral health, WIC and nutrition, vaccine preventable diseases, eliminating health disparities, provision of vital records, and protecting the public's environmental health. In addition the Department is responsible for Medical Quality Assurance, Epilepsy programs, Chronic Disease programming, spinal cord injury prevention programs and many other public health activities.^[1]