"Promoting, Protecting, and Nurturing the Health of Our Community"

Early public health focused on basic health care and sanitation improvements.  Changes in public hygiene and immunizations are examples of early changes that have had dramatic effects on the health of the public. Today, people are expected to live longer; the estimated life expectancy in the United States is over seventy years, as compared to a much shorter typical span of life for those living a century ago.  While some of these “additional” years can be attributed to bio-medical technology, much of this is a result of public health advances. 

Today’s dedicated, professional staff serve the community in a variety of ways. Traditional public health programs such as environmental health, communicable disease control, and vaccinations continue as “core” health department activities.  However, additional programs have become essential to the department’s support of overall community health.  Most of these focus on disease prevention, behavior, and lifestyle change and include maternal health, family planning, and care management programs.  More recently, efforts to facilitate community collaboration in efforts to reduce health-damaging behaviors are evident in groups such as Healthy Personians and the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, all developed with leadership of the health department.

Brief History of the Person County Health Department

Public health services have been provided formally in Person County since 1929.  There were two employees; a public health nurse, Mrs. Ruth O’Briant, and a clerk, Mrs. Maynard Clayton.  The office was located in the back of a building on the corner of Depot and Main Street.  The office then moved to Court House after its completion in the 1930’s.  Person and Orange Counties formally organized a district health department in 1935 with Dr. Sumner, MD as its first director.

Since 1935, the Health Department has had its office on Abbitt Street, the Kirby Building on Main Street and on Madison Boulevard in the building currently occupied by Person County Information Technology.  The Health Department moved to South Morgan Street in 1983.

The Orange-Person District Health Department expanded to become a five-county district with the addition of Caswell, Chatham, and Lee Counties.  Dr. O.D. Garvin, MD was Health Director from 1944 until 1980.  In 1978, Orange County withdrew from the district, and the four-county department had administrative offices in Pittsboro.  The Person County Health Department was formed formally in 1988 upon the dissolution of the four-county district health department.

In October 2005, Person County Health Department moved to its current location, 355-A South Madison Boulevard.  The department is co-located with Person County Department of Social Services and the Freedom House Recovery Center in the Person County Human Services Complex.  The Environmental Health Section of the Health Department is located at 325 South Morgan Street.  There is an eleven-member Board of Health and a staff of 32.  Descriptions of services can be found elsewhere on this website.

Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2025 and 2026