About Public Health Services

Public Health Services (PHS) is a multidisciplinary service area composed of six synchronized divisions— Clinical Services, Communicable Disease Control, Community and Nursing Services, Health Promotion, Environmental Health, and the OC Public Health Laboratory. PHS engages with an array of OC Health Care Agency (HCA) services, and in collaboration with community partners, in the pursuit of preventing disease and creating conditions that enhance the health of individuals and communities. 

Clinical Services Division (CSD) is composed of several prevention, care, and treatment services including:

• Immunization Services for infants and children, including childhood vaccines and vaccines required for school entry, seasonal flu, international travel vaccines, COVID, and Mpox vaccines.
• 17th Street Testing, Treatment, and Care Clinic provides testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections and HIV outpatient medical care, as well as counseling, education, and preventive options such as HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and HIV Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for uninsured patients.
• Pulmonary Disease Services Clinic provides tuberculosis disease screening, diagnosis, and treatment for active and latent tuberculosis infection. The clinic also provides direct observation therapy and case management services.
• HIV Planning and Coordination (HIVPAC) administers the Ryan White Part A grant and works with the Orange County HIV Planning Council to ensure that needed services are available to persons living with HIV. 

Communicable Disease Control Division (CDCD) works collaboratively with local health care providers, government agencies, and community partners to identify outbreaks of disease and develop strategies to limit their further spread. CDCD, in partnership with the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, monitors disease surveillance data to track trends over time, to define emerging concerns and vulnerable populations, and provides clinical and epidemiological guidance to residents, providers, and the broader community. The division is also responsible for registering and issuing certificates for all births and deaths that occur in Orange County, including births for babies that were born outside of a hospital setting.

Community and Nursing Services Division (CNSD) provides nursing services in the home and community, including case management, client advocacy, community resource information, and assistance with accessing health care. Services are provided to all residents of Orange County who meet the criteria regardless of financial status. Nurses in CNSD provide services in a variety of programs that target specific populations and/or health needs. Services also include essential services such as the Health Care Program for Children in Foster Care, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (OC CLPPP), services to Children and Youth with Special Health Care needs and to parents/survivors of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome/Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SIDS/SUID), and services for unsheltered and unhoused individuals.

Health Promotion and Community Planning (HPCP) protect the health and safety of Orange County residents by building the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities to promote optimal health and prevent disease, disability, and premature death. HPCP units are comprised of: Local Oral Health Program (LOHP), Nutrition Services (NS) including Women, Infants, Children (WIC), and Tobacco Use Prevention Program (TUPP).  HPCP programs share a common understanding that chronic disease prevention is best achieved through the coordinated implementation of a variety of concurrent public health interventions across a lifespan, and across a variety of settings. HPCP is responsible for coordinating and promoting health as well as chronic disease and injury prevention services and initiatives countywide through the Community Health Improvement Plan workgroups. Programs provide and support direct health education and access to resources and services, health awareness campaigns, community capacity building, and inform policy to promote and improve health to high-risk communities.

Environmental Health Division (EH) is a regulatory agency that relies heavily on education and outreach to obtain compliance. Services include retail and wholesale food protection, foodborne illness investigations, restaurant and public pool inspections, childhood lead exposure prevention, water quality, and ocean water protection, oversight of solid waste facilities, hazardous materials surveillance and mitigation, underground and aboveground storage tanks, body art facilities and practitioners, medical waste management inspections, and a used oil recycling education program.

OC Public Health Laboratory (OCPHL) provides specialized laboratory testing including water quality testing, for assessing, investigating, and analyzing infectious diseases of public health concerning Orange County. OCPHL provides reference laboratory services to Orange County clinical and hospital laboratories and receives specimens as required under California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 17. The OCPHL operates as a Bioterrorism reference Level B Laboratory as part of the Centers for Disease Control Laboratory Response Network for Bioterrorism (LRN). The OCPHL also provides foodborne disease surveillance as a part of the Centers for Disease Control PulseNet program.