The mission of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is to promote and protect health and wellness and prevent injury and illness for all people, prioritizing racial equity in health by improving equitable access to quality public health and health care services and partnering with communities most impacted by health inequities and structural racism.[4]
DPH prevents illness and disease, gives children a healthy start, and monitors and oversees the safety of food and water supplies. DPH prepares for and responds to a wide range of emergencies and disasters, maintains vital records, and collects important health-related data across the state. DPH also assesses the quality and safety of health care facilities and services and oversees the integrity and competency of those who are licensed to work in the various health care professions.
Bureaus and offices
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is organized by bureaus and offices:[5]
Commissioner’s Office: The Commissioner’s Office includes teams that coordinate cross-cutting data, policy, and programmatic strategy. The Commissioner’s Office also provides core administrative support throughout DPH, including in finance, facilities and operations, legal matters, communications, legislative affairs, and employee support, engagement, and training.
Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health: The Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health (BCEH) works to protect the public from a variety of environmental exposures. Such exposures can occur when individuals come into contact with pollutants in the air, water, or soil — whether they result from human activities or the natural environment. BCEH performs a range of testing to monitor potential exposures and tracks metrics that can indicate risks and trends. BCEH regulatory programs enforce laws and regulations related to food protection, radiation, childhood lead exposure, and health and sanitation standards for housing, recreational camps, beaches, swimming pools, and correctional facilities. The bureau also responds to the environmental health concerns of Massachusetts residents by studying the impact of these pollutants on communities and informing the public about how to prevent or minimize their exposure to harmful pollutants.
Bureau of Community Health and Prevention: The Bureau of Community Health and Prevention (BCHAP) promotes the well-being of individuals and communities in Massachusetts, with attention focused on populations disproportionately impacted by health inequities. BCHAP aims to reduce social and structural barriers that lead to poor health by working with communities, people, and partners across the Commonwealth. Its work includes chronic disease prevention and control, violence and injury prevention, tobacco cessation and prevention, and sexual and reproductive health.
Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition: The Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition (BFHN) protects and promotes the health of the Commonwealth’s pregnant people, mothers, infants, children, youth, and their families. With a vision of optimal health for all families, BFHN is committed to addressing institutional and structural racism to reduce health disparities. The bureau prioritizes family engagement to address racial inequities, develop meaningful programs, and implement effective care. BFHN’s work includes: the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program; the Early Intervention (EI) program; services for children and youth with special health needs; support for healthy pregnancy; home visiting; early childhood mental health; and surveillance and research to inform maternal and child health programming and policies.
Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality: The Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality (BHCSQ) promotes, preserves, and protects the health of all people in the Commonwealth by reviewing and affirming that the state’s health care delivery system continues to provide safe, effective, high-quality care. BHCSQ’s work includes overseeing Massachusetts health care facilities to assess that patients receive quality care in a safe setting, monitoring and regulating emergency medical services, coordinating the Determination of Need Program, investigating and addressing complaints and concerns, serving as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) state survey agency, and promoting quality improvement.
Bureau of Health Professions Licensure: The Bureau of Health Professions Licensure (BHPL) consists of 21 boards of registration and certification for a variety of health professions — including primary care and mental health providers, health care specialists and administrators, social workers, and nurses — and the Drug Control Program, which oversees the Massachusetts Controlled Substances Registration, Medication Administration Program, and Prescription Monitoring Program. BHPL’s work includes evaluating applicants’ qualifications and granting licenses, permits, registrations, and certifications; establishing rules and regulations to promote the integrity and competence of licensees and registrants; promoting public health, welfare, and safety by affirming that licensed and registered professionals and entities meet statutory requirements; and setting standards for controlled substances activity by health care providers, manufacturers, and distributers.
Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences: The Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences (BIDLS), works to protect everyone in Massachusetts from the range of known and emerging infectious disease and improve the quality of life for all residents through education about prevention and services. BIDLS’ work includes preventing, tracking, testing for, and responding to more than 90 infectious and environmental agents and associated human diseases; managing the State Public Health Laboratory; managing all pediatric and many adult vaccines, including all COVID-19 and mpox vaccines; collecting and analyzing data on infectious disease through the Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network; providing health information, outbreak response coordination, infection control recommendations, and clinical guidance to local health departments, clinicians, hospitals, health centers, congregate care settings, schools, and businesses; and contracting with clinical and community-based organizations to provide integrated infectious disease services.
Bureau of Public Health Hospitals: The Public Health Hospitals System (PHHS), overseen by the Bureau of Public Health Hospitals, is composed of four multi-specialty facilities: Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children, Tewksbury Hospital, and Western Massachusetts Hospital. Fully accredited by the Joint Commission, the hospitals provide acute and chronic medical care. The three adult-serving facilities are certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The PHHS serves as the Commonwealth’s medical safety net, providing care for patients whose complex medical and psychiatric comorbidities prove to be a challenge in more traditional medical settings.
Bureau of Substance Addiction Services: The Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) is the federally designated Single State Authority for Substance Use. BSAS develops, implements, and oversees prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery support services for individuals, families, and communities affected by addiction. The bureau’s services include: licensing and monitoring treatment programs as well as alcohol and drug counselors; increasing access to high-quality care, including medications for addiction treatment, overdose prevention, and other comprehensive supports; supporting primary prevention efforts statewide; tracking and analyzing data to inform strategies to reduce disease and death related to substance use disorder; and funding recovery support services.
Office of Health Equity and Community Engagement: The Office of Health Equity and Community Engagement (OHECE) works to address social determinantsof health so individuals, families, and communities can reach their full health potential. Serving as an agency-wide resource, OHECE promotes principles and policies that inform the way health services are designed and delivered, and provides technical help and guidance to DPH bureaus, offices, and programs to address health inequities and help further the department’s overarching equity efforts and goals.
Office of Local and Regional Health: The Office of Local and Regional Health (OLRH) supports local public health in improving health and well-being for all, working alongside its local public health partners to build and sustain a strong local public health system. OLRH’s work includes supporting local boards of health and local public health departments, regional health districts, and the federally recognized Tribes; leading local public health system transformation; and strengthening local public health services and protections for residents in Massachusetts in alignment with the State Action for Public Health Excellence Program.
Office of Health Data, Strategy, and Innovation: The Office of Health Data, Strategy, and Innovation accelerates the use and dissemination of data and advanced analytics to identify disparities in health outcomes, risk factors, and social determinants of health. The Office makes this information available to support system-level improvements aimed at achieving health equity and optimal health for all Massachusetts residents. OPH also includes the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics (RVRS), which administers the statewide vital records and statistics systems. The work of RVRS involves collecting, managing, and tracking millions of vital records in Massachusetts from 1931 to the present and maintaining and providing statistics on births, deaths, fetal deaths, divorces, and marriages.
Office of Preparedness and Emergency Management: The Office of Preparedness and Emergency Management (OPEM) coordinates statewide planning and preparedness efforts and supports inter- and intra-agency preparation for and response to public health incidents and potential incidents. OPEM collaborates with local public health, health care facilities and systems, and other partners to share knowledge, plans, and tools to prepare for, respond to, and recover from threats to public health and well-being, including acts of bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks, and other large-scale public health emergencies or mass casualty incidents.
Office of Problem Gambling Services: The Office of Problem and Gambling Services (OPGS) works with community partners throughout the Commonwealth to provide problem gambling prevention, intervention, and treatment services. OPGS promotes a comprehensive and integrated public health approach to problem gambling by using data to inform initiatives, engaging communities, and promoting health and racial equity.
State Office of Pharmacy Services: The State Office of Pharmacy Services (SOPS) provides state-of-the-art pharmaceutical care through clinically appropriate and operationally efficient drug therapy management in a safe and effective manner. SOPS is an integrated system benefiting several agencies within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
Board of Registration in Medicine: The Board of Registration in Medicine is responsible for licensing, regulation, and discipline of Massachusetts physicians and acupuncturists. Its mission is to oversee and monitor that only qualified and competent physicians of good moral character are licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and that those physicians and health care institutions in which they practice adhere to and provide to their patients high quality of care that meets state and federal standards.
DPH is also connected to the Public Health Council, which has had an important role in Massachusetts public health since it was established by legislation in the 1800s. Currently, the Public Health Council’s responsibilities include promulgation of regulations, approval of Determination of Need applications, advising DPH on major policy decisions at the discretion of the Commissioner, and granting the Commissioner authority to take necessary actions to protect public health upon a declaration of a public health emergency by the Governor. [6]
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