Local Public Health Systems
At the local level, public health services in Utah are organized into 13 health districts.
Seven of the 13 local health departments are single county and six are multi-county
districts. The San Juan health department was just formed in 2015.
The local health districts in Utah include the following:
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.
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. The Utah Notification and Information System (UNIS), 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. UNIS has expanded to include many emergency management, homeland security, and other response partners.
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.
For more information about local public health in Utah, see the Utah Association of Local Health Departments website at www.ualhd.org.
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 County
- San Juan County
- Southeast Utah (Carbon, Emery, Grand 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.
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. The Utah Notification and Information System (UNIS), 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. UNIS has expanded to include many emergency management, homeland security, and other response partners.
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.
For more information about local public health in Utah, see the Utah Association of Local Health Departments website at www.ualhd.org.
Map of Utah's Local Health Districts
Content updated: July 2015
