What does North Carolina's essential public health services law require?

The state essential services law describes four categories of services and specifies some of the services that fall in each category.[1]

Table 1. Essential public health services in North Carolina (G.S. 130A-1.1)

 

 

Services

Health Support Services

  • Assessment of health status, health needs, and environmental risks to health
  • Patient and community education
  • Public health laboratory
  • Registration of vital events
  • Quality improvement

Environmental Health Services

  • Lodging and institutional sanitation
  • On-site domestic sewage disposal
  • Water and food safety and sanitation

Personal Health Services

  • Child health
  • Chronic disease control
  • Communicable disease control
  • Dental public health
  • Family planning
  • Health promotion and risk reduction
  • Maternal health

Public Health Preparedness

  • Public health preparedness

 

The essential services law gives the responsibility for ensuring these services are available to the state Department of Health and Human Services, not local agencies. However, the actual provision of many of the services occurs at the local level under state oversight.

 


 

[1]G.S. 130A-1.1. 

Topics - Local and State Government