Guilford County Health Department, J 89
Posted by: 
GeoGordie
N 36° 05.279 W 079° 47.114
17S E 609364 N 3994390
The Guilford County Department of Public Health is proud to be the first county health department in the state and the second in the nation. On May 1, 1911, the first county health department in North Carolina was created in Guilford County.
Waymark Code: WMBMQ
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 04/30/2006
Views: 18
Dr. George Floyd Ross began work as the first superintendent on July 1 with $2,500 salary and expenses. He asked physicians to report births, deaths and cases of contagious disease, and he inspected schools and controlled outbreaks of typhoid and smallpox.
Tragedy struck in 1948 when Guilford County had the worst polio epidemic in the United States. There would be 205 cases and five deaths before it ended. Cooperation during the polio crisis led to the consolidation of the county's three health departments in 1949.
The department participated in pilot tests of the Salk vaccine, and in 1954 went "all out" to inoculate every child in a "knock out polio" drive.
Back in 1911, the primary reason for having the department was child health. While child health continues to be a vital program within the Department of Public Health, programs addressing women's health, health promotion/disease prevention, and environmental health expand the Department's reach into all facets of the community…Everywhere. Everyday. Everybody.
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Most of all, enjoy the History that North Carolina has to offer! From the Mountains to the Ocean .. it's all here!