Company Profile
Tennessee Department of Health
Company Overview
The Department of Health works to promote, protect and improve the health and well-being of Tennesseans. Keeping people healthy by preventing problems that contribute to disease and injury is the overall emphasis of the Department.
Company History
The Tennessee Department of Health Mission: Protect, promote and improve the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee. All 6.45 million Tennesseans, along with those who visit our state, are touched directly or indirectly by TDH operations. One in five, some 1.4 million people, are directly served each year through a network of 89 rural and six metropolitan county health departments, while others are impacted by inspections of restaurants, healthcare and related facilities; registration or receipt of vital records; protection from communicable illness; licensing of health professionals; specialized laboratory testing and other many other services and programs.
Protecting people’s health by preventing problems that contribute to illness, disease and injury is the overall emphasis of the department. Key responsibilities include screening for and immunizing children against diseases; providing and assuring a safety net of care, particularly in medically underserved populations and areas of Tennessee; offering early prenatal care and proper nutrition to pregnant women and young children; and assuring restaurants, hotels, health facilities and health professionals meet requirements and standards established in Tennessee code. The regulatory work performed by the department impacts more than ten percent of Tennessee’s gross domestic product and more than 14 percent of its workforce.
The greatest causes of premature death and preventable illness are closely related to the way we live—what and how much we eat, whether we use tobacco, how much we exercise, and what we do to protect our safety. The department emphasizes health protection, primarily preventing illness and injury from occurring in the first place. By promoting healthy lifestyles that avoid health risks and educating Tennesseans about the rewards we enjoy when we protect the health of our communities, our families and ourselves, we are all able to enjoy better health.
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
In 2014, The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation (RWJF) report "Outbreaks: Protecting Americans from Infectious Diseases,"
ranked Tennessee in the top 5 states in developing policies and preparedness to respond to ongoing and emerging infectious disease threats.
Benefits
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A full list of benefits and employment practices can be found in the State of Tennessee Employee Handbook that can be found at:
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http://www.tn.gov/dohr/employees/pdf/Employee_Handbook.pdf