History of the Department

In August of 1880, the Santa Barbara City Council established the Board of Health. The Santa Barbara County Health Department (now the Public Health Department) was founded in 1925. Communicable disease control, well child care and immunizations, prenatal care, and public health nurse outreach to people in need remain key functions of the Department.

Our vision is healthier communities through leadership, partnership, and science. By building effective working relationships with non-profit human service organizations, schools, private hospitals and clinics, the Medical Society, and the local Medi-Cal fiscal intermediary, the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority (SBRHA), the Public Health Department has improved awareness and access.

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department was one of the first in the State to provide public health nursing outreach to homeless people on the streets and is a founding partner in the Multi-Integrated System of Care (MISC) which provides multiple agency, targeted case management for at-risk youth. Our Department spearheaded the establishment of Medi-Cal managed care and local fiscal control in this county by forming SBRHA in 1983. We started one of the first AIDS prevention and control programs in the State and have a strong HIV Prevention Community Planning Collaborative. We continue to answer community needs by piloting new projects such as the Sexual Assault Response Team, the Healthy Families and Medi-Cal for Children Outreach Collaborative, and electronic immunization, birth and death registries. Our medical and scientific approach to health assessment and promotion provides quantifiable data to improve the health status of the community and access to necessary medical care at our six clinic locations throughout the County