About Us

Linn County Public Health (LCPH) provides many unique services to improve the health of Linn County residents. Our efforts within the community are strengthened by relationships established with other community organizations within the public health system. Through these relationships, LCPH is able to address the public health issues that are present within Linn County at multiple levels. To the right is an illustration of the Social Ecological Model, which depicts the five levels of influence that LCPH targets to prevent public health problems in our community.

Divisions

The Linn County Public Health Department is supported by five divisions that provide unique services to Linn County residents. An illustration of the organizational structure of Linn County Public Health can be accessed at: LCPH Organizational Structure

Office of the Health Director

• Budget and finance
• Communications
• Health equity
• Public health preparedness
• Laboratory services, which performs the following functions: 
  • Clinical laboratory support and referral: on-site testing for walk-in clinics
  • Blood lead testing
  • Water testing: public and private wells, pools and spas, and surface waters

Air Quality

• Ambient air quality monitoring
• Permitting/modeling, including open burning permits and certain business/industry permits
• Compliance/enforcement
• Community programs (non-regulatory), such as Idle Free Linn

Assessment & Health Promotion

• Community Health Assessment / Community Health Improvement Plan
• Community Programs and Partnerships, such as My Care Community
• Health Literacy/Education Promotion
• Epidemiology
• Informatics

Clinical Services

• Sexually transmitted infection (STI), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing and treatment
• Adult and child immunizations
• International travel clinic
• Tuberculosis program
• School and sports physicals
• Harm reduction education and outreach
• Refugee and immigrant health services
• Communicable disease outbreak response

Food & Aquatic Safety, Tattoo and Tanning

• Food establishment inspections, including mobile food trucks and temporary food events
• Aquatic facility inspections, including public pools and spas
• Tattoo and tanning facility inspections

Home & Water Quality

• Healthy Homes assessments
• Lead poisoning prevention
• Nuisance abatement
• Septic and well testing

Agency Leadership

Linn County Public Health (LCPH) is governed by the Linn County Board of Health (BOH), which consists of five members appointed by the Linn County Board of Supervisors. The BOH supports the mission of public health. View our current Linn County Board of Health members.

National Accreditation

Linn County Public Health (LCPH) received accreditation by the national Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) in March of 2015. LCPH is the first health department in the state of Iowa to achieve this high honor. The national accreditation program, jointly supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nation’s more than 3,000 governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance.

To receive accreditation, a health department must undergo a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment process to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of quality standards and measures. According to PHAB President and CEO, Kaye Bender, PhD, RN, FAAN, "Accredited health departments demonstrate a strong commitment to their public health mission. Residents of a community served by a nationally accredited health department can be assured that their health department has demonstrated the capacity to protect and promote the health of that community."

Linn County Public Health earned reaccreditation in 2021. For additional information about Accreditation, visit the PHAB website.