What Does the Localpolk Health Department Do for Our Community?

PF3 Wants you to Know…

What Does the LocalPolk Health Department Do For Our Community?

By Jimmy Hines

Jimmy Hines has served as Health Director for the Rutherford Polk McDowell Health District since 2010. He joined the Polk Fit Fresh and Friendly Board in 2014.

Local Health Departments are primarily focused to prevent, protect, and promotecommunity health. Polk County Health Department organized in 1938 and in 1940 joined with Rutherford County to form a Health District. McDowell County joined the Health District many years later. Rutherford Polk McDowell Health District provides public health services to residents in all three counties. In the 1940s and 1950s, Public Health worked on protecting residents from typhoid fever and polio, and this decade has brought new concerns, including bioterrorism and the Ebola virus.

Local health departments help prevent the start and spread of outbreak and disease by keeping food and physical environments safe. Restaurant food we eat, hotels we visit and daycares where our children play are all safer thanks to local health departments. We also minimize health hazards such as lead and water pollution.

Local health departments work with healthcare and community partners to prevent and target the cause of disease outbreaks, and then determine the appropriate response. When a disaster or emergency occurs, local health departments often have plans in place, and they respond dynamically to natural disasters, novel disease outbreaks, and bioterrorism threats that can dramatically impact health.

Local health departments protect community health and economic vitality through public health policy and community partners by upholding policies and policy improvements that work. Examples of policies that have a major impact on the health of our children and neighbors include those that support quality food in our schools, more physical activity, and smoke free places. A healthy community has a greater potential for positive economic growth.

Whether assessing community health, implementing quality improvement efforts or pursuing accreditation, local health departments maximize opportunities to improve public health practice and the public’s health.

Local health departments promote healthy communities while assuring a health care safety net and championing proven practices for better health for everyone. Prevention works, and access to health services improves overall health and cuts costs for everyone.

Local health departments help young people stay well and develop into healthy adults. We offer education and services to help reduce chronic illness and complications. A healthy community leads to a more productive workforce, reduced healthcare costs, and a better quality of life. We evaluate and augment the health service capacity of the community, including: care for pregnant women, immunizations for all ages, and dental care for children.

The Polk County Health Department, located at 161 Walker Street in Columbus, is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Call 828-894-8271 for more informationor visit our website at