Tennessee Department of Health provides overview of services, staffing and priorities to House Health Committee

The Tennessee Department of Health outlined its scope of services, staffing and current priorities to the House Health Committee during an informational meeting on Jan. 1, 2025. Commissioner Ralph Alvarado and senior agency officials summarized clinic operations, disease control work, prevention programs and workforce needs.

Why it matters: Committee members heard that the department touches a large share of Tennesseans through local health departments and statewide programs, and that improved public-health investments and partnerships will be needed to move Tennessee out of the bottom tier on many health metrics.

Alvarado said the department operates a statewide network of local health departments and provides primary-care services in health department clinics. “We are the only state in the Union to provide primary care services in our health departments,” he said. He described a department with roughly 2,900 positions and a budget this year of about $1.5 billion, noting federal relief funding has temporarily inflated recent totals. He also identified heart disease, cancer and tobacco use — including vaping — as the biggest drivers of poor outcomes in Tennessee and urged legislative…