A Tale of Two Departments: Public Health in Harris County and the City of Houston

REPORT : Dec. 15, 2021 HEALTH

This report examines the possible service overlaps between the Harris County Department of Public Health and the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services. The report also identifies options to reduce overlaps and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the public health delivery system.

With the rise in extreme events affecting public health—mostly recently Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and the COVID-19 crisis in 2020—the question of how public health services are delivered in Houston and Harris County has been given new currency.

Most large Texas cities are served by one public health agency. Sometimes that agency functions at the county level (as with Dallas County Health and Human Services) or at the city level (as with the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, which provides services countywide but functions essentially as a city department). But in Houston, the Harris County Department of Public Health and the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services both provide public health services, albeit mostly within different geographies.

The purpose of this report is to take a fresh look at possible service overlaps between the Harris County Department of Public Health and the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services and identify options to reduce those overlaps and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the public health delivery system.

Photo: National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Document A: Assessment of City and County Functions and Overlaps
Dec. 15, 2021 DOCUMENT : Document A: Assessment of City and County Functions and Overlaps
Document B: Analysis of City and County Public Health Department Budgets
Dec. 15, 2021 DOCUMENT : Document B: Analysis of City and County Public Health Department Budgets
Document C: Case Studies of Other Public Health Delivery Models in Texas
Dec. 15, 2021 DOCUMENT : Document C: Case Studies of Other Public Health Delivery Models in Texas
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