In 1922, the first county health department was formed by Allegany County. By 1934, each Maryland county had established its own health department. State oversight of local departments was conducted within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene by the Local Health Services Administration formed in 1969. The Administration reorganized by 1973 as the Local Health and Professional Support Services Administration and, by 1977, as the Local Health Administration. The latter reformed into the Local and Family Health Administration in 1989. That administration was renamed the Community and Public Health Administration in 1997, and reorganized as the Community Health Administration in 2001..
Today, local health departments in Maryland's twenty-three counties and Baltimore City are overseen by the Community Health Administration of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
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