Public Health

In partnership with the community we serve, the Guilford County Department of Public Health shall protect, promote, and enhance the health and well-being of all people and the environment in our county.

Healthy people living in a healthy community.

Guilford County Department of Public Health is NC’s first full time health department and our nation’s second. According to former Guilford College History Professor Alexander R. Stoesen’s historical compilation, typhoid fever, smallpox, infant mortality, and vaccinations for school children were major local issues that desperately needed to be addressed.

On May 1, 1911, a delegation of residents went before the Guilford commissioners asking that “a competent physician” be hired as a health officer, “to give his entire time to looking after the health of the County.” Fortunately, the commissioners decided this was a worthy request. They voted in agreement and then appropriated $2,500 for the physician’s salary and expenses. On July 1, 1911, Dr. G. F. Ross began his work.

Preventing disease and promoting health is what the Guilford County Department of Public Health continues to do 100 years after Dr. Ross began his work. Throughout 2011, the department celebrated its Centennial with a look back at the past.

“In public health, we see the community as our patient,” stated Merle Green, Guilford’s former health director. “We all want to live in a place where we can grow and prosper.”

In 1912, Dr. William M. Jones took over as health superintendent (the position now recognized as health director). During his 11-year tenure, malaria made it on the list of health concerns for our community along with the need for health education and improved children’s health. While Dr. Jones was out distributing educational materials to local businesses, he saw a food service worker blow his nose in a dish rag – an absolute NO-NO!  After that observation, the department added a part-time health inspector.  Also, during this time, the American Red Cross provided a nurse. The staff was now up to three (3).

Over the next few years, diseases came and went, which kept the department on its toes. Jones pushed for and established sanitation standards for local schools, a major accomplishment. But then, a serious blow to the community occurred – the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic that killed 156 residents.

During this time, both Greensboro and High Point also operated their own city health departments. In the 1920s, a push to consolidate the three (3) health agencies was made but was unsuccessful. It would be another 20 years before the three (3) would become one (1). Before consolidation would occur, Guilford County would suffer the ill effects of the Great Depression and the loss of health personnel. Ultimately, the agency bounced back with the aid of federal funds and hired its first dentist.

During World War II, Greensboro housed the largest military base inside any city limits. Unfortunately, this led to our county having one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted disease in the country.

Next came polio. Again, Guilford County was on top, but for all the wrong reasons. We had the worst polio epidemic in the U.S. (205 cases and five (5) deaths).

After the consolidation of the three health departments in 1949, an all-out war was issued against polio as pilot tests of the Salk vaccination took place here. In addition, under the new leadership of Dr. Everett Hewes Ellinwood, our county’s first mental health clinic was established as Dr. Ellinwood recognized the connection between physical and emotional health. This mental health clinic became a separate department in 1968. During Ellinwood’s 20-year tenure, the Guilford County Department of Public Health became known as the model for public health as many “firsts” were achieved -- the first air pollution regulations, service provision in low-income areas, and sanitation inspection rules.

When Dr. Sarah Morrow took the reins in 1969; children’s programming again took center stage. More efforts were made to reach low-income families, family planning services expanded, and Guilford added the first family planning nurse practitioner in North Carolina.

In the 70s, services moved into the community with the addition of neighborhood clinics. Steps to reduce damage from oil and chemical spills were made by developing and implementing needed procedures. And then another first, Guilford was NC’s first county to require soil evaluations before septic tanks permits were issued.

For the next 30 plus years, Guilford’s county health department continued to add programs and services to meet the community’s needs and assure compliance with state public health laws. HIV/AIDS was a new disease that challenged the system while old issues like infant mortality continued, becoming an even a greater problem. Services have been reorganized and sometimes outsourced in order to best serve the community. An example of this was the privatization of the children’s acute care clinic which became Guilford Child Health, today known as Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, Inc.  Access to health care for the working poor continues to be a significant need today, but in 2010, the establishment of the Evans-Blount Community Health Center in southeast Greensboro was an example of a Guilford County public-private partnership making quality services more accessible and affordable.

“We are proud of our history in this community,” stated Green. “Our past has prepared us to continue to be leaders in the future.”

• Every Baby Guilford is supported by the NCDHHS Women, Infant, and Community Wellness Section/Community Health Branch. A total of $760,000 or 43% is financed with federal and state funds and $1,022,525 or 57% is funded by other sources.
• Integrated Targeted Testing Services (ITTS) (which includes HIV Testing and Jail Screening) is supported by the NCDHHS Epidemiology/Communicable Disease Branch. A total of $615,761 or 84% of the program is financed with federal and state funds and $119,073 or 16% is funded by other sources.
• For FY2026-27 Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is supported by the North Carolina Division of Child and Family Well Being of the United States Department of Agriculture. A total of $3,038,423 or 88% of the program is financed with federal funds and $402,096 or 12% is funded by other sources. 
• Family Connects receives funding from NC Partnership for Children. A total of $784,622 or 35% of the program is financed with state and federal funds and $1,483,724 or 65% is funded by other sources. 
• Child Health Immunizations is supported by the NCDHHS Epidemiology/Immunization Branch. A total of $107,735 or 32% of the program is financed with federal funds and $225,511or 68% is funded by other sources. 
• School Health is supported by the NCDHHS Whole Child Health/School, Adolescent and Child Health Branch. A total of $654,956 or 8% of the program is financed with federal funds and $8,022,344 or 92% is funded by other sources. 
• Care Management for At-Risk Children (CMARC) and  Care Management for High-Risk Pregnancies (CMHRP) is supported by the NCDHHS Women, Infant, and Community Wellness/Maternal Health Branch. A total of $178,760 or 6% of the program is financed with federal funds and $3,157,601 or 94% is funded by other sources. 
• Maternal Health (which includes Centering Pregnancy) supported by the NCDHHS Women, Infant, and Community Wellness Section. A total of $264,594 or 8% of the program is financed with federal and state funds and $3,305,052 or 92% is funded by other sources.
• Family Planning (which includes the Regional Vasectomy Program) supported by the NCDHHS Women, Infant, and Community Wellness Section/Reproductive Health Branch. A total of $642,435 or 16% is financed with federal and state funds and $3,514,110 or 84% is funded by other sources.
• Emergency Preparedness supported by NCDHHS Epidemiology/PH Preparedness & Response Branch. A total of $68,498 or 46% is financed with federal and state funds and $80,641 or 54% is funded by other sources.
• Communicable Disease (which includes TB control) is supported by NCDHHS Epidemiology/Communicable Disease Branch. A total of $125,599 or 7% is financed with federal and state funds and $1,584,743 or 93% is funded by other sources.
• Refugee Health is supported by NCDHHS Epidemiology/Communicable Disease Branch. A total of $199,250 or 31% is financed with federal and state funds and $438,346 or 69% is funded by other sources.
• CARGOS is supported by NCDHHS Epidemiology/Communicable Disease Branch. A total of $398,657 or 100% is financed with federal and state funds. 
• General Administration (which includes Workforce Development and Regional Foundational Capabilities) is supported by NCDHHS Local and Community Support, Local Technical Assistance & Training. A total of $1,127,890 or 27% is financed with federal and state funds and $2,981,367 or 73% is funded by other sources. 
• Healthy Communities is supported by NCDHHS Chronic Disease and Injury. A total of $34,526 or 100% is financed with federal and state funds.    
• Diabetes Self-Management is supported by NCDHHS Chronic Disease and Injury. A total of $14,546 or 100% is financed with federal and state funds.