Washington County Health Department

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ABOUT WCHD

Overview

Mission

Guiding Principles

Washington County Health Department (WCHD) is part of the State of Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), Community Health Administration, as well as an agency of Washington County government. The Washington County Commissioners serve as the official Board of Health. The Health Advisory Commission, whose members are appointed by the Washington County Commissioners, provides oversight to public health endeavors. Funding for WCHD is a combination of federal, state and local monies, plus third-party and private-pay reimbursements.

Washington County is located in Western Maryland with the majority of the population living in the Cumberland Valley. The genesis of public health in the county occurred in 1911 under the auspices of the Washington County branch of the Maryland Association for the Prevention and Relief of Tuberculosis. From this early beginning a County Health Department was formed and gradually expanded.

From 1936 to 1958, the Health Department was located at the Washington County Hospital. In 1955, Andrew K. Coffman, local philanthropist, donated land for Coffman Health Center and the Coffman Research Center, a cancer research laboratory for NIH. Funding from the Appalachia Regional Commission in 1977 provided for major renovation and expansion of these facilities.

Located at 1302 Pennsylvania Avenue, Hagerstown, MD, these facilities now house the headquarters of the Washington County Health Department and the Johns Hopkins Training Center for Public Health Research. Division Directors centrally administer all programs and services from this location. However, because of the health department's commitment to community and school-based service and due to space restraints resulting from program expansion, WCHD also provides services at fifty-one other sites.

Mission

Washington County Health Department is committed to serving our community by promoting, protecting and improving the health of every citizen.

Guiding Principles

Professionalism

As employees of the Washington County Health Department, we will treat clients and employees with the utmost respect, courtesy and care, taking responsibility for our performance and actions while striving to create a positive work environment that inspires personal excellence. Our attitudes, workplaces and appearance will provide a visible and recognizable reflection of our commitment to professional excellence.

Quality

While pursuing our mission of protecting, promoting and improving the health of our County's residents we will provide services in such a way that staff performance embodies competency, accuracy and respect for each individual.

Teamwork

Believing that teamwork is the foundation of quality service provision, we will engage in group decision making that encourages creativity and positive health outcomes for our employees and clients.

Employees

Acknowledging that employees are our most valuable resource and a key foundation or our organization, we will invest in their continuous development by providing them with respect, support, recognition and the opportunity to grow, both personally and professionally.

Clients

While serving our clients' diverse needs with professionalism and respect we will always treat them with empathy and understanding, providing service regardless of their ability to pay and encouraging their trust by engaging in the strictest adherence to principles of confidentiality, empowering each individual by respecting and valuing the community's diversity. Only in this way can we provide the dignity that all clients deserve.

Integrity

In order to maintain an effective partnership with all residents of Washington County we must ensure that all personnel and operations are of the highest quality and that continuous improvement occurs. This will be accomplished by the maintenance of on-going assessments and the evaluation of program outcomes designed to maintain both professionally ethical and organizational integrity.

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Send comments and suggestions to:washhealth@dhmh.state.md.us

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Martin O'Malley, Governor | Anthony G. Brown, Lt. Governor