About Us

Committed Public Health

The Uncas Health District is an unaffiliated, unincorporated, non-profit organization operating under Connecticut State Statutes. The District provides local public health services to more than 62,000 residents in the municipalities of Bozrah, Montville, Norwich, and Sprague. Department activities include environmental health inspections, infectious disease review and follow-up, health outreach and education, and public health emergency preparedness.

Operational Definition of a Local Health Department

A 1988 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report defined Public Health as “assuring conditions in which people can be healthy.”
It went on to identify the three core functions of Public Health as:

Assessment
Policy Development
Assurance

In 1994, the Core Public Health Functions Steering Committee developed a working definition of Public Health and a guiding framework for the responsibilities of local Public Health Systems. The ten Essential Public Health Services are:

Monitor health status to identify and solve community health problems.
Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
Inform, educate, and empower people about public health issues.
Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems.
Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health
care when otherwise unavailable.
Assure competent public and personal health care workforce.
Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services.
Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.