Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has announced his proposal for restructuring the Department of Human Resources. GPHA’s recommendation is a separate Department of Public Health. Perdue’s plan would not accomplish this. Instead, he recommends merging the current Division of Public Health with Community Health, creating a new Department of Health, among other changes.

Dr. S. Elizabeth Ford, the acting director of Georgia’s Division of Public Health, released a letter to Public Health employees outlining the proposed changes and the potential impacts.

Click here to read a copy of the letter.

The creation of a stand-alone Public Health agency has been endorsed by GPHA, the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and others, as a way to better serve the public health needs of the citizens of Georgia. Governor Sonny Perdue formed a Health and Human Resources Task Force in February to explore options for reorganizing the Department of Human Resources.

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