The Center for Local Health, established in 2014, is the liaison between the West Virginia Department of Health's Bureau for Public Health and the 48 autonomous local boards of health and health departments in West Virginia, under the direction and leadership of the State Health Officer. The center serves local public health departments by distributing funding through State Aid, managing and allocating statewide grant funding, and by deploying training and technical assistance. The establishment of this unit as the center in 2014 was an important step to support the strategic alignment of the state and local public health resources with contemporary challenges and changes facing our public health system and impacting the health of our communities.

Support to local health departments and local boards of health has traditionally been focused on core public health functions such as the prevention and control of infectious disease, preventing and responding to environmental health hazards in our food, air and water, and promoting health and wellness. The focus of the center is to support a state and local public health system that is best positioned to successfully meet community needs. This is primarily accomplished by ensuring that local health departments provide basic public health services and meet the standards outlined in 64CSR73.

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