About the Department of Public Health & Wellness
Our Vision
A healthy Louisville where everyone and every community thrives.
Our Mission
To achieve health equity and improve the health and well-being of all Louisville residents and visitors.
Our Values
Collaboration Innovation Grit Integrity Quality
- You can find our strategic plan HERE.
- You can view our high-level org chart HERE.
- You can read our FY19 Annual Report HERE.
- Read how LMPHW and other organizations in the city are collaborating to improve health and wellness for all people living in Louisville HERE.
The Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness (LMPHW) is an independent, academic health department under the leadership of Dr. Sarah Moyer.
Our department is organized under three main branches: Health Operations, Health Services and the Center for Health Equity.
The Health Services branch which includes the TB Clinic, Specialty Clinic, Syringe Exchange Program, MORE Center, WIC Clinics, and Infectious Disease Prevention.
The Health Operations branch includes Laboratory Services, Public Health Preparedness, Public Health Administration and Environmental Services, including Food Safety, Public Facilities (hotel/motel inspections, swimming pools, tattoo and body art studios), Mosquito Control, Rabies Control, Lifeguard Certifications, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, Construction Plan Review, Private Sewage Systems, Emergency Public Health Preparedness).
The Center for Health Equity branch works across all functions of the department to ensure policies, practices and outcomes meet the needs of all people in every community. It is organized into Root Cause Teams: Early Childhood Development (including Healthy Start and Healthy Babies Louisville), Social and Cultural Capital, Food and the Built Environment, Environmental Quality, Housing and Economic Development, and Criminal Justice. These teams are tackling the areas that we know are at the core of some of the major public health issues affecting Louisville. The Center for Health Equity also oversees the department's research and data collection and analysis as well as academic engagement.
Some of our recent accomplishments include:
- Establishment of the state's first Syringe Exchange Program.
- Release of the 2017 Health Equity Report.
- Release of Hope, Healing and Recovery: Louisville's Two-year Plan to Address Substance Use Disorder.
- Hepatitis Outbreak Response - called the "gold standard" by the CDC, more than 82,000 vaccinated in the community.
- Expansion of Louisville's smoke-free ordinance to include the prohibition of smoking or vaping electronic cigarettes as well as hookah in indoor public places.
- Achieving a Bronze medal in the 2018 CityHealth rankings.
- Implementation of a healthy vending policy in all Louisville Metro buildings.
- Conducting a Health Impact Assessment that helped to inform Kentucky's Pregnant Workers Rights Act which was signed into law July 2019.
We are currently working with community members on Healthy Louisville 2025 (HL2025), our city's shared plan for improving health by 2025.Over 100 community members, strategic partners and metro employees came together to review the data of the Health Equity Report and our Community Health Needs Assessment . They narrowed our focus areas for HL2025 to three themes: Access to Healthcare, Socioeconomic Progress, and Environmental Equity. We expect to release Healthy Louisville 2025 in June, 2019. If you'd like to join us, call 502.574.8270.
Click here to see our budget. You can view our Key Performance Indicators and how we're doing on those here. You can find our strategic plan here.
To see a complete listing of our programs and services or other health related information visit our A to Z listing of programs and services.
Click here to read our HIPAA Policy also available in Spanish.
