California Department of Public Health (2024)

Department & Services

The Center for Preparedness and Response (CPR)

CPR provides overall statewide planning and preparedness for public health disasters and emergencies, distributing and monitoring funding for disaster planning at the local level, operating the Medical Health Coordination Center, developing, and maintaining a standard public health and medical emergency management system for local and state entities. CPR programs include: Medical and Health Coordination (MHCC) Readiness Unit and CDPH Duty Officer (DO) Program.

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Center for Healthy Communities (CHC)

CHC provides the prevention and control of chronic diseases, to reduce the prevalence of obesity, reduce tobacco use and improve oral health. CHC provides training programs for public health workforce, promote and support safe and healthy environments in communities and workplaces, and prevent substance and gambling addiction. CHC programs include: chronic disease prevention and management, tobacco control, environmental health, occupational health, injury and violence prevention, oral health, and problem gambling.

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Center for Environmental Health (CEH)

CEH works to protect and improve the health of all California residents by utilizing investigation, inspection, laboratory, technical assistance, regulatory and/or emergency response activities to improve the safety of food, drugs, medical devices; conduct underage tobacco enforcement; oversee the use of radiation and radioactive materials; regulate medical waste; and conduct other environmental management programs.

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Center for Family Health (CFH)

CFH provides improvement to the health and well-being of pregnant people, children and youth as well as reduce disparities in perinatal health outcomes by providing nutritional support and screening newborns and pregnant women for genetic diseases. CFH programs include: Genetic Disease Screening Program, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Division, and the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program.

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Center for Health Care Quality (CHCQ)

CHCQ provides regulatory oversight and monitoring for the quality of care in public and private health facilities, clinics, and agencies throughout the state; licenses nursing home administrators, and certifies nurse assistants, home health aides, and hemodialysis technicians; and oversees the prevention, surveillance, and reporting of healthcare associated infections in California’s health facilities.

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Center for Health Statistics and Informatics (CHSI)

CHSI provides improvement of public health by managing information systems and facilitating the collection, validation, analysis, and dissemination of health statistics and demographic information on California’s population.

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Center for Infectious Diseases (CID)

CID provides the prevention and control of infectious diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, influenza and other vaccine preventable illnesses, emerging infections, vector-borne disease, sexually transmitted diseases (STD), infant botulism, and foodborne illnesses.

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Center for Laboratory Science (CLS)

CLS provides oversight for clinical and public health laboratory operations and clinical and public health laboratory personnel and is responsible for issuing licenses and certificates.

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Office of Health Equity (OHE)

OHE provides a key leadership role in advancing physical and mental health disparities in California. OHE works with communities and across sectors to address the root causes of health inequities, including but not limited to climate change and racial injustice, and to embed health and equity considerations into the decision-making process. OHE has three operational units: Community Development and Engagement, Health Equity Policy and Planning, and Health Research & Statistics.

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The Regional Public Health Office (RPHO)

RPHO provides for the allocation and implementation of more than 200 million dollars in local assistance funds to build a public health infrastructure in every corner of California. This investment is intended to fill in the gaps that were clearly seen during the COVID-19 emergency.

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Office of Legal Services (OLS)

OLS provides in-house legal analysis, advice, and representation to the Director of CDPH. It is also responsible for the enforcement of privacy requirements for the Department, and for compliance with requirements for the adoption of regulations.

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For service of summons and complaints and writ petitions:

Office of Compliance (OOC)

OOC provides the Workplace Violence Prevention Program, Equal Employment Opportunity Program, investigations of allegations related to workplace violence, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, denials of reasonable accommodations and whistleblower. OOCs work also includes Internal Audit Program, internal and external audit activities, grant compliance reviews for Emergency Preparedness Office’s sub recipients, enterprise risk and compliance management activities, and liaison to all external auditing entities.

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Human Resources Division (HRD)

HRD provides guidance, support, and expertise to the department for recruitment, development, training, and retention of quality employees. HRD Disability Management Unit (DMU) coordinates free sign language interpretive services for CDPH employees and applicants upon request.

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• Human Resources Division: (916) 445-0983

Office of Communications (COMMS)

COMMS provides strategic direction for internal and external communications for CDPH. COMMS is responsible for overseeing and approving all external communications, including the public facing website, internal facing website (myCDPH), social media channels, and media relations.

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California Conference of Local Health Officers (CCLHO)

CCLHO provides a state/local forum for the discussion of significant health issues to develop recommendations for appropriate health policy. Its various program committees consider technical and policy issues in communicable disease control and prevention; chronic disease and injury prevention; environmental health; health equity; and maternal, child and adolescent health.

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Office of Professional Development and Engagement (OPDE)

OPDE provides equitable access and promotes organizational excellent and empowerment to resources and development opportunities for CDPH staff,partners, and stakeholders. Our core functional areas include quality improvement, strategic planning, wellness, mentoring, employee recognition, training, leadership development, and accreditation. The Language Access and Procurement Unit (LAPU) within OPDE centrally oversees all aspects of translation, interpretation, and multilingual communication support, ensuring efficient access to vital public health services for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP).

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