The Department of Public Health works to make Philadelphia a healthy place to live, work, and play.

Our department:

• Provides high-quality medical care at City health centers.
• Prevents the spread of illness and infectious disease.
• Protects against environmental hazards.
• Encourages healthy behaviors to prevent chronic disease.
• Plans and responds to health emergencies.
• Ensures the quality and accessibility of health services.
• Sets health policy.
• Collects, analyzes, and reports on a variety of public health data.

We also convene two boards that provide guidance on policy and regulatory issues: the Board of Health and the Air Pollution Control Board.

By providing a safety net to the City’s most vulnerable people, we work to keep everyone in Philadelphia healthy.