Role of local health departments in the delivery of ambulatory care

Many people (40 per cent) receive each year some personal health service provided by local health departments. A substantial number of poor children (50 per cent) look to public agencies including health departments for all or part of their medical care. A number of departments including those represented in this study come close to serving as the guarantor of basic medical care for entire constituent populations, reaching those people who are not reached by other provider systems. Health departments over the past decade have increased their involvement as providers of medical care, in part assisted by such federal initiatives as WIC, and Medicaid. Health departments have institutionalized many of the innovations generated by federal demonstration projects of the 1960s, and continue a tradition as centers of important innovation in styles and continuity of health care. The health departments studied are notable in many respects, not the least of which is their constructive relationship with private providers. Some health departments appear to function at high levels of effectiveness in a dual fashion alongside private provider systems. Other departments interact or accommodate with private providers in ways that appear beneficial to the populations they serve. It would appear that both public and private provider systems are essential, and that they need not compete; they can provide mutual reinforcement for achieving universal and equitable health services in the public interest.