Personal Health Services
and your
Local Health Department

For consumers with no or inadequate health insurance coverage, finding affordable personal health care services can be difficult. Consumers facing this challenge should be sure to check with their city or county public health department to learn more about personal health programs and services available through these entities.

Many recognize that their local health department plays a vital role in protecting and improving public health through educational outreach, disaster preparedness planning and health safety regulatory enforcement. Yet in many communities, local health departments play an equally critical role in connecting consumers to essential personal health services. With strategies and tactics adapted to local circumstances, most local health departments facilitate programs and services aimed at helping consumers-in-need access essential health services, either through publicly-owned clinics and institutions or in collaboration with private health practitioners in the community.

Personal health programs and services available through a local health department will vary in scope depending on local circumstances. In smaller communities the health services available may be narrower in scope. Programs for immunizations, communicable disease testing, health screenings, clinical laboratory testing and maternal and child health services are often available to qualified individuals even in small local health departments. In larger communities, local health department personal health service programs often extend to a much wider array of health services, including primary care, behavioral health, dental care and even hospital services.

Personal health programs and services facilitated by local health departments will vary from community to community, as will eligibility requirements, so consumers need to check with their city or county health department to learn more about specific programs and services available locally. To assist consumers in this effort, the Health Guide USA health department index on the left serves as portal to more than 1,200 city and county health departments.

Consumers seeking other affordable personal health care service options may want to first investigate their eligibility for insurance coverage with their State Medicaid Agency. Also, consumers may want to check on special financial assistance programs available through at U.S. Teaching Hospitals and U.S. Children's Hospitals. Many of these institutions try to work with uninsured or underinsured consumers to find financial assistance programs. Consumers in need of dental services should consider U.S. Dental School Clinics, where they can find below cost service from dentists-in-training under the supervision of professional dentists. Similarly, U.S. Optometry Schools usually have clinics that are a source of lower cost vision care where optometrists-in-training work under the tutelage of professional optometrists