IN NOVEMBER 1948, the citizens of Jackson County established a health department by voter referendum. The following year, the County Supervisors met and appointed the first Board of Health. The Board of Health held its first meeting on March 17, 1949 and elected Dr. Allen Willis as Chairman and Cora B. Rollo as Secretary. Plans were made to employ a Health Officer and Dr. Roger F. Sondag of Jacksonville, Florida was hired effective January 1, 1950. Jackson County Health Department was the 15th local health department formed in Illinois. The first office space was upstairs at 1015½ Chestnut Street in Murphysboro and the first two staff members hired by Dr. Sondag were Mary Slechticky, Steno Clerk, and Ella Mae Chambers, Supervising Nurse. The population of Jackson County in 1950 was 38,124.

In addition, the Board voted that the Board of Supervisors be asked to levy the full ½ mil. tax to support the agency. The first budget was for $58,000 and included the following staff positions:

The primary services provided were: communicable disease control through immunizations in schools, VD clinic, tuberculosis screening and treatment; rheumatic fever clinic; program inspections of nursing homes; and a dental program. Most of the major Environmental Health (EH) programs (sewage, food, water, nuisance/complaint investigations, and solid waste) have been consistent and have been around since the health department started. The original state Local Health Protection Grant was dependent on ten local health department programs that were evaluated by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Those programs included: food program, sewage, water, nuisances, solid waste, infectious disease, nursing programs, health education, WIC, and administration. Since then, the EH Division added the landfill and refuse programs, recycling, tanning facility inspections, summer food program inspections, and a body art inspection program.

This department has always been closely associated with the Jackson County Tuberculosis (TB) Care and Treatment Board. The original TB Board was appointed on December 4, 1950.

IN 1970, the agency moved to a larger, more convenient ground level facility located at 342A North Street in Murphysboro. The staff and services provided expanded as more grant dollars became available. A home health agency was also established in 1970, which offered skilled nursing services to many homebound elderly persons. Beginning in 1973, some clinical services were offered in Carbondale at an old abandoned dormitory from SIU.

In 1977, the WIC program was established. It provided nutrition education, health assessment and supplemental food vouchers to income eligible pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, and children and served over 1,500 clients each year. In the 1980’s the health department provided follow-up to newborn genetics screening and also offered clinics for diagnosing genetic disorders.

Eventually we outgrew the Murphysboro and Carbondale offices. It was expensive to operate those offices and the satellite offices, so it was inevitable that we needed to combine all of these into a much larger and centrally located facility. The Board of Health began serious planning to build a facility in the early 1980s, realizing that rent would continue to increase and those tax dollars could be spent for a building that would be owned by the County. After several roadblocks and much planning, the current facility was completed and we moved in during June 1986.

IN THE 1990S, several new programs were initiated, including Family Case Management, HealthWorks, the HIV Care Consortium, Regional HIV Prevention, a County Recycling Program, and Coordinated School Health. These services have added over 17 new staff positions. This growth resulted in overcrowding and a need for more space. In 1999 an additional building was added, expanding the space available for services to the population of Jackson County, which had grown to over 59,000 people. The original “front” building was renovated to add new exam rooms and classrooms for existing clinical services. Staff moved into the new “back building” space in January 2000.

The 1990s also marked the initiation of a community planning process. In 1994, through a review of data and a committee process, five priority health issues were identified. Plans were made and collaborations were formed to address these issues. This process has been repeated four times and the latest plan was shared with the public in March 2010. Jackson County’s community planning process has been very successful in engaging a wide range of community partners and in targeting community resources to identified priorities. One outcome of this process was the formation of the Healthy Communities Coalition in 2003. This coalition has over 100 members and serves as a catalyst for health improvement activities in this community.

THE FIRST DECADE OF THE 21ST CENTURY was marked by an increased focus on emerging diseases and preparedness. This decade brought us West Nile virus, SARS, monkey pox, and 2009 H1N1 influenza. Along with these emerging diseases was an increased focus on public health’s role in emergencies and preparedness. This new focus is reflected in a change in the agency’s mission to “Promoting Health, Preventing Illness, Protecting our Environment, and Preparing for Emergencies.”

On January 1, 2008 the Smoke Free Illinois Act was implemented, prohibiting smoking in all workplaces in Illinois. Leading up to the passage of the state law was a significant local advocacy effort to prohibit smoking in Carbondale restaurants and bars. Also in 2008, the health department added more space for HIV Services as well as a conference room and offices for the Health Education Division.

In 2010, as the nation, state, and county face hard economic times, the funding for public health is shrinking. Jackson County Health Department has decreased its staff through attrition and tightened its spending. The department entered 2010 with fewer resources, 57 employees, and more demands—but with a will to continue promoting health, preventing illness, protecting our environment and preparing for emergencies.

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