The Hamilton County Health Department celebrated its 50th anniversary on Thursday at a public open house.
The event displayed historic vital records going back 135 years. The department was actually organized in 1966, but the following year was its first full year in business. Operating out of a room in the basement of the old Courthouse, there were initially three employees: a nurse, a sanitarian and a secretary.
The first board, appointed by county commissioners in 1967, was composed of Dr. John Haywood, Dr. Haldon Kraft, Max Hunter, James Morris, Gerald Johnson and Garrick Mallery. Mallery attended Thursday’s event.
“It’s been interesting. I’ve done a lot of things, but this was one of the highlights of my life seeing it [the department] come along to where it is today,” stated Mallery.
The health department has expanded dramatically as the county has grown. Health inspectors now check hundreds of restaurants and other food handlers to protect the public from unsanitary conditions, provide immunizations for the county’s children, maintain all county birth and death records, seek to eliminate dangerous mosquito breeding grounds and provide public education on best health practices among other services.