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tion of food and the sterilization of bot- 

 tles and other equipment used in the 

 care of the infant. 



The county health department carries 

 on educational work and arranges for 

 clinics intended to discover and lead to 

 the correction of physical defects of chil- 

 dren. At these clinics children's teeth, 

 eyes, ears, nose and throat are given ex- 

 aminations and their parents are in- 

 formed as to any defects which are in 

 need of correction. The actual examina- 

 tion of the children is made by doctors 

 and dentists of the community. 



The activities indicated above are only 

 a few of the services which can be ren- 

 dered by an efficient county health de- 

 partment. 



The typical county health department 

 in Illinois would include a chief med- 

 ical officer, a sanitary officer, two or 

 more nurses, and one or two stenog- 

 rapher-clerks. All of these employees 

 must have special qualifications, specified 

 by the Illinois department of health, fit- 

 ting them for their work. The chief 

 medical officer is responsible to the board 

 of health. The other employees work 

 under his supervision. 



According to information received by 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association, nine 

 Illinois counties have already established 

 •county health departments. These are 

 Morgan, Lawrence, Wabash, Edwards, 

 Adams, DuPage, McLean and Mont- 

 gomery. All of these counties have 

 «stablished their health departments with- 

 in the last two years, since it was only 

 In 1943 that the General Assembly 

 passed the Searcy-CIabaugh Act authoriz- 

 ing their creation. 



There are two methods of creating 

 ■county health departments. The county 

 board of supervisors (or commissioners) 

 ■can create a county health department by 

 adopting an appropriate resolution. If 

 two or more counties are to be included 

 in a single health department, a joint 

 resolution of the county boards is re- 

 ■quired. 



County health departments may also be 

 ■established by a majority vote in a refer- 

 •endum in the county, or counties, con- 

 cerned. A referendum may be ordered 

 at the discretion of the county board, or 

 Iboards, upon receipt of an appropriate 

 petition signed by at least five percent of 

 the registered voters in two-thirds of the 

 affected townships. 



County health departments are con- 

 trolled by a county board of health. The 

 members of the county board of health 

 are appointed by the chairman of the 

 county board of supervisors (or commis- 

 sioners), with the approval of his board. 

 Their terms are three years except that 

 some of the first appointees serve only 

 one and two year terms. Board members 

 •serve without compensation and may be 



Your sanitation officer can frequently in- 

 spect and make recommendations regard- 

 ing rural water supplies. 



removed for misconduct or neglect of 

 duty by the chairman of the county board 

 who apjxjinted them. 



In single county health departments 

 the board of health consists of seven 

 members, including at least two physi- 

 cians and one dentist. Where two or 

 more counties combine to form a- single 

 health department the board of health 

 consists of three persons including one 

 physician and one dentist from each 

 county. 



The duties of the county board of 

 health -include the selection of the chief 

 medical officer and, with his approval, 

 the appointment of the remainder of the 

 staff. The county board of health also 

 establishes rules for the guidance of the 

 employees of the county health depart- 

 ment and makes annual reports to the 

 county board of supervisors and the gen- 

 eral public. 



Neither the county board of health, 

 nor the health department officials can 

 make rules or regulations governing the 

 public. The health department can, how- 

 ever, make recommendations to the coun- 

 ty board of supervisors (or commission- 

 ers) as to desirable health regulations, 

 when a county health department is 

 established it becomes responsible for 

 the enforcement of local and state health 

 laws and regulations. 



In counties which do not now have 

 county health departments the respon- 

 sibility for public health services is di- 

 vided. In counties with the township 

 organization of government, each town- 

 ship has a "board of health" consisting 

 of the supervisor, clerk and assessor. In 

 counties having the commission form of 

 government the county board of commis- 

 sioners is a "board of health." The state 

 law provides that where these local 

 'boards of health" do not discharge their 

 duties properly the state may take over 



those duties and charge the costs of the 



same to the township or county. 



The cost of an efficient public health 

 department probably will range from 75c 

 to $1 per person per year. At the pres- 

 ent time some federal and some state 

 money is available for the suppwrt of 

 county health departments. The law also 

 provides that any available county funds 

 may be used for the support of the county 

 health department. The Searcy-CIabaugh 

 law also provides that any county may 

 levy an additional tax to support the 

 county health department if the levy of 

 such a tax is approved by a majority of 

 the voters in a referendum. The sf)ecial 

 tax may not exceed 10c on each 1 100 of 

 assessed valuation. 



According to an old saying, "The 

 proof of the pudding is in the eating." 

 So we should find out how county health 

 departments have worked out in some 

 of our neighboring states. Michigan and 

 Kentucky are reported to have the best 

 county health organizations in the middle- 

 west. So we have asked our Farm Bureau 

 friends in these states what they think 

 about their county health departments. 



J. F. Yaeger, assistant executive secre- 

 tary of the Michigan Farm Bureau, says 

 that, "The evidence indicates that the 

 services far outweigh the cost of operat- 

 ing these county units. . . . The best tes- 

 timony to their success is that no health 

 department has ever been discontinued 

 even during the years of depression when 

 many county boards of supervisors were 

 forced to reduce appropriations drastical- 



ly" 



Joe Betts, director of information for 

 the Kentucky Farm Bureau, says, "It is 

 our opinion that county health depart- 

 ments have been beneficial to rural peo- 

 ple. Besides the work they do in pre- 

 ventive medicine and sanitary control, 

 they are doing an effective piece of work 

 in educating rural people to the benefits 

 to be derived from medical science. It is 

 our opinion that the money appropriated 

 to county health departments, by and 

 large, has been wisely spent." 



A principal handicap to the organiza- 

 tion and operation of county health de- 

 partments at this time is the acute short- 

 age of well qualified personnel. Due to 

 war-time conditions the supply of capa- 

 ble doctors, nurses, and sanitarians 

 available for public health work is very 

 limited. 



Health departments staffed under these 

 conditions probably will accumulate a 

 number of inferior persons on the payroll. 

 Some of these are likely to be retained 

 indefinitely. This is not necessarily an 

 argument against the creation of county 

 health departments at this time. It does, 

 however, indicate a necessity for proceed- 

 ing slowly and carefully in the organiza- 



(Cotilinued on page f) 



SEPTEMBER. 1945 



