Welcome!

On behalf of almost 1,000 employees of the Utah Department of Health (UDOH), welcome to our Web site. I hope you will browse this site and in the process gain an understanding of the important role of public health in Utah and an appreciation of how our many programs help citizens throughout our State every day.

Utah is widely recognized as a healthy place to live, work and raise a family. In fact, in 2007, Utah ranked as the sixth healthiest state in the nation according to a United Health Foundation report. Utah leads the nation in low prevalence of smoking rates, and has the nation’s lowest rates of cancer-related deaths.

The UDOH is committed to doing its part to keep Utahns healthy. Most people know that public health programs work to protect the public - along with other state agencies and our twelve (12) local health departments, we monitor the quality of the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and detect outbreaks of infectious diseases and prevent their spread. Other programs target specific populations such as mothers and children, provide immunizations and where necessary, prenatal care for expectant mothers. We license health care facilities to make sure they are safe, clean and able to provide needed care for the sick. We license emergency medical services to make sure that citizens throughout our state receive necessary transport in times of emergencies. We even provide basic medical and dental care to individuals who are poor and lack health insurance at certain public health clinics throughout the state. Our largest program is Medicaid - a federal/state cooperative agreement that provides health insurance and long-term care for elderly, for the poor, and for disabled individuals.

We also promote healthy living through a number of educational programs, believing that when people have good information they make good choices about their health. Look around our Web site. You will see the broad range of activities, initiatives and programs we provide. All of them help us achieve our vision for Utah, which is, "A place where all people can enjoy the best health possible, where all can live, grow and prosper in clean and safe communities." With the help of every individual citizen and family in our state, together we can make this vision become a reality.

Sincerely,

David N. Sundwall, MD
Executive Director
Utah Department of Health