As Arapahoe County moves through the complex process of setting up its single-county public health department, one of the primary questions County officials have received is which services will the new health department provide? Arapahoe County’s priority is to provide services that are meaningful to residents and protect our most vulnerable populations.
Although a comprehensive list of services won’t be complete until closer to the department’s Jan. 1, 2023 launch date, many of the services our residents have come to rely upon to stay healthy will still be available. (As a reminder, the Tri-County Health Department will continue providing all public health services until the new department is in place.) These services fall into two broad categories and include:
Consumer Protection
- Environmental health, which includes inspections for restaurants, childcare facilities, body art facilities, and water/wastewater
- Communicable disease surveillance and control
- Emergency preparedness and response
- Community health and prevention, which includes tobacco education/prevention, behavioral health, and primary prevention programs
- Vital records
Community Health
- Public health nursing
- Harm reduction, which includes HIV and Hepatitis C testing, and syringe access services
- Immunizations
- Child fatality case review
- Maternal child health
- Nutrition program for women, infants, children (WIC)
- Family planning
Specific details about each of these services are available on Tri-County's website and are similar to what Arapahoe County Public Health is expecting to offer.
This process is unfolding on schedule. The Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) is currently reviewing applications for its foundational board of health, which will be appointed by mid-June. The County will continue to offer opportunities and outlets for resident and stakeholder feedback and will provide updates as the Board of County Commissioners makes its decisions, or the process reaches certain milestones. For more details about the health department creation process, visit arapahoegov.com/health.