1. Chicago Department of Public Health
History of Public Health in Chicago
Erica Salem, MPH
Deputy Commissioner
Chicago Department of Public Health
Rahm Emanuel Bechara Choucair, MD
Mayor Commissioner

2. Presentation Outline
• Eras in Public Health
• The Chicago Board of Health
• Everything Old is New Again
• Towards Policy Solutions
• Evolution of Public Health Communications & Data
Availability
• Leadership – Standing Up for What’s Right

3. Pre-1850’s: Early Sanitation
• Board of Health established
• First sanitation regulations
passed
• Focus on disease control

4. 1850-1920: Sanitary Reform
• Focus on sewers, water, food & dairy
• Reporting of contagious diseases required
• Reversal of river as medical intervention

5. 1880’s-1950’s: Hygiene Movement
• Focus on hygiene and medical care
• First infant mortality campaign
• Services for dental, home visits and venereal
diseases

6. 1920’s: The New Public Health
• Inoculations as major intervention
• Syphilis Control Project – 1937
• City introduces Salk vaccine - 1955

7. 1950’s: Health Care Services
• Personal health care services
• Focus on low-income populations
• First City Mental Health Center – 1959
• First Neighborhood Health center - 1970

8. 1988: The Future of Public Health
• Public health in disarray
• Core Functions of Public Health

9. 1993: The Era of Health Care Reform

10. The Chicago Board of Health

11. The Chicago Board of Health
1835 1857
• Temporary • Powers • New Board of
Board reduced as • Viewed as luxury Health
established to • 7-member Board small pox and established to
established by • BOH abolished
fight cholera cholera under address
State Legislature • Powers transferred
control cholera
to Police
1834
Mid-1850’s 1867

12. Everything Old is New Again
1976

13. Everything Old is New Again
2011

14. Everything Old is New Again
2012

15. Everything Old is New Again
2009

16. Towards Policy Solutions

17. Towards Policy Solutions

18. Towards Policy Solutions

19. Communications & Data Availability

20. Evolution of Public Health Communications

21. The Evolution of the Message

22. The Evolution of the Message
2008
1938 1980’s

23. Data Availability

24. Leadership:
Standing Up for What’s Right

26. A judge has no business
dictating what public
health policy should be.

27. facebook.com/ChicagoPublicHealth
Gplus.to/ChiPublicHealth
@ChiPublicHealth
312.747.9884
CityofChicago.org/Health
HealthyChicago@CityofChicago.org