The overall mission of the Williams County Health Department is the prevention of disease, promotion of optimal health, and the providing of care for the present and the future residents of our county.

    Our purpose is to maintain and protect the health of residents through control of communicable disease, management of the environment, education of the community in health promotion, prevention of illness and chronic disease, and providing health care services in the home and other settings in the community.  We are and will continue to implement programs that focus on prevention, identification, and detection of early signs of disease, referral, health care continuity, interagency collaboration and rehabilitation services.

    Our agency believes that we have the responsibility to identify and prioritize community health needs and to convey an awareness of these needs to the community.  We believe quality health services should be available and accessible to all citizens.  We believe that the Board of Health and the staff need to be actively involved in the development of comprehensive public health policies that will be based on local needs and will advocate for assuring conditions in which our citizens can be healthy.  We believe that public health's primary focus is the improvement and maintenance of the personal and environmental health of a population and that our local citizens need to be actively involved in determining their health.  For it is only when people assume the responsibility for their own health, become involved in determining health care policy and learn self-care, can we achieve the goal of optimal health for our community.

What Is Public Health?

    Public health is the combination of science, practical skills and beliefs which are designed to maintain the health of the community.  Its emphasis is on the prevention of disease and the health needs of a population.  The vision is healthy people living in healthy communities.

Public health agencies at all levels work to:

•   Prevent epidemics and the spread of disease

•   Protect against environmental hazards

•   Prevent injuries

•   Promote and encourage healthy behaviors and mental health

•   Respond to disasters and assist communities in recovery

•   Assure the quality and accessibility of health services

Public health seeks to accomplish these by working to provide certain essential services:

•   Monitor health status to identify and solve community health problems

•   Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community

•   Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues

•   Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems

•   Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety

•   Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable

•   Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal and population-based health services

•   Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems