Health Department Leadership
Lauren Levy, JD, MPH, Health Officer
Laurie Humphries, Deputy Health Officer – Operations
Dr. Jamie Sibel, Deputy Health Officer – Clinical
Our Public Health Responsibility
The mission of the Cecil County Health Department is to work together to promote, protect, and advance the health and wellness of the community.
- Prevent epidemics and the spread of disease
- Protect against environmental hazards
- Prevent injury
- Promote and encourage healthy behavior and mental health
- Respond to disasters and assist communities in recovery
- Assure the quality and accessibility of health services
Health Department Services
The Cecil County Health Department offers services to all county residents through its six divisions.
- Administrative Services
- Addictions Services
- Community Health Services
- Environmental Health Services
- Health Promotion
- Special Populations Services
Division of Administrative Services
Allison Borzymowski, Director
443-245-3761
The Division of Administrative Services supports Health Department operations by providing budget, fiscal, human resources, building, fleet, and information technology services. Services provided to the public include issuing birth and death certificates, health insurance eligibility determinations, education, and care coordination for Medical Assistance clients to access and utilize the health care system, ombudsman services, and transportation to non-emergency medical appointments for qualified Medical Assistance recipients.
Services provided:
- Emergency Preparedness (See Additional Services below for more information)
- Health Insurance
- Maryland Children’s Health Insurance Program (MCHP) Determination
- Health Planning (See Additional Services below for more information)
- Medicaid Assistance Transportation Program
- Ambulatory
- Non-Ambulatory
- Vital Statistics
- Birth Certificates
- Death Certificates
- Administrative Care Coordination/Ombudsman Program
Division of Addictions Services Ken Collins, Director
(410) 996-5106
The Division of Addictions Services – Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center – provides substance use disorder (SUD) prevention, assessment, early-intervention, care-coordination, outpatient treatment, overdose response training, and recovery support for adult and adolescent patients and their families. Services are delivered from the Health Department and within a variety of other community and institutional-based settings. The division’s counseling approach integrates Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change model, and incorporates Motivational Enhancement (MET) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The program recognizes that addiction is a disease that causes changes in the brain, and that substance abuse is influenced by environmental conditions and behavior; recovery from addiction is possible with appropriate treatment and long-term lifestyle changes. Family support and counseling sessions are offered to patients and their families to help increase understanding of the dynamics of addiction. Patients are also encouraged to attend recovery oriented support groups, including Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, several of which are held at the Health Department.
Services provided:
- Care Coordination
- Crisis Intervention
- Drug Court – Adjudicated Adult Treatment Program
- DWI/DUI Assessments, Referral, and Treatment
- Family Education, Therapy and Resource Connection
- Group Counseling for Adults and Adolescents
- Individual Counseling for Adults and Adolescents
- Overdose Recognition and Response Training (Naloxone/Narcan Distribution)
- Peer Recover Specialists Program
- Substance Use Disorder Prevention and Community Outreach
- School Based Screening and Early-Intervention
- Screening and Diagnostic Assessment
- Therapeutic Case Management
- Urine Drug Screen Testing
- Vocational Assistance and Support
Division of Community Health Services, Tracy Anderson, Director
(410) 996-5130
The Division of Community Health Services promotes the health of Cecil County residents and offers a variety of health services for children and adults. These include:
- Monitoring and controlling communicable diseases and conditions (communicable disease may include sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, rabies, and other public health disease threats);
- Communicable disease surveillance and case management of residents affected by communicable diseases;
- Outbreak investigation and control;
- Screening, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections;
- Pregnancy testing;
- Child and adult immunization and immunization tracking and follow up;
- WIC (Women, Infants and Children’s) Program nutrition counseling.
Services provided:
- Communicable Disease Control – (410) 996-5100
- Disease Outbreak Investigation
- Tuberculosis Screening/Evaluation/Treatment
- Rabies pre-exposure clinics and post-exposure follow up
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases – Screening and Treatment
- AIDS/HIV Counseling and Testing
- AIDS/HIV Case Management
- Rapid HIV and Hepatitis C Testing
- PrEP- HIV Pre-Exposure Program
- Immunizations – Adult and Children
- Immunization Tracking and Follow Up
- Clinic Services – (410) 996-5100
- Pregnancy Tests
- WIC – Women, Infants and Children’s Nutrition Program – (410) 996-5255
Most services require an appointment, but some are on a walk-in basis.
Division of Environmental Health Services, Ed Arellano, Director
(410) 996-5160
The Environmental Health Services Division enforces state regulations, conducts inspections, and issues licenses and permits. Services include soil testing for septic systems; well permits; community water supply and sewage systems surveillance; food services inspections; rabies vaccination clinics and control activities; inspection of bathing beaches, swimming pools, public camps, and mobile home parks; issuing burning permits, and nuisance investigations.
Services provided:
- Food Control
- Food facility inspection and plan review
- Outbreak investigation
- On-site Water and Sewerage
- Soil evaluations and percolation tests
- Sanitary and building permit processing
- Well permits
- Water sampling
- Subdivision Development
- Soil evaluations and percolation tests
- Consultation and plat review
- Community and Recreational Sanitation
- Community water supplies
- Swimming pools
- Bathing beaches
- Health care facilities
- Family daycare and foster homes
- Mobile home parks
- Public camps
- Nuisance investigation
- Rabies Control
- Air Quality
- Open Burning Permits
- Emergency Response
- Solid Waste
- Hazardous Waste
- Air Pollution
- Radiation Control
Division of Health Promotion (acting), Dan Coulter 996-5168
The Division of Health Promotion interacts with the community by providing cancer screening, health education, and outreach programs. Registered Nurses, Health Educators, Coordinators of Special Programs, and Outreach Workers educate and encourage Cecil County residents to practice behavioral changes that prevent disease and help promote healthy lifestyles. Preschoolers to senior citizens enjoy an extensive range of services and programs including health education, diabetes support, and prevention programs, colorectal, breast, and cervical cancer screening outreach, self-management programs, free stop-smoking programs, and Nicotine Replacement Program/Chantix® Services programs. Mini-grants are also available to community groups in the area for tobacco use prevention. Staff assists the Healthy Lifestyles, Cancer, and Tobacco Task Forces to develop and implement strategies that address health-related issues identified in the Community Health Improvement Plan to improve overall health in the community. Staff provides information and educational materials on health topics upon request from the community.
Services provided:
- Cancer Control
- Lung Cancer Screening Program
- Colorectal Cancer Screening Program
- Skin Cancer Screening Program
- Cardiovascular Risk Reduction
- Diabetes Self-Management Program
- Chronic Disease Self-Management Program
- Health Education and Community Outreach Programs
- Chronic Pain Self-Management Program
- Cancer Thriving and Surviving Program
- Tobacco Use Prevention and Smoking Cessation Programs
- Community Mini-grants for Tobacco Use Prevention
- Tobacco Use Prevention and Smoking Cessation Programs/Services
- Healthy Start Home Visiting Program
- Lead Case Management Program
- Improved Pregnancy Outcomes
- Community Action Team (Child injury and mortality prevention)
- Fetal and Infant Mortality Review and Child Fatality Review Boards
- Prevention Services
- Drug Free Cecil County Coalition
Division of Special Populations Services, Gwen Parrack, Director
(410) 996-5112
The Special Populations Services Division is comprised of the Mental Health Core Service Agency (CSA), the Adult Evaluation and Review Services (AERS) Program, and the Developmental Disabilities Coordination of Community Services Program. Each of these programs share the overarching goal of assisting individuals to access treatment and services to remain in community-based living environments. The CSA performs local planning on behalf of the Public Behavioral Health System and ensures access to treatment for the Medicaid and uninsured population. The AERS program provides assessments for older adults and those with chronic disabling conditions at risk of placement into an institutional level of care. This unit develops comprehensive plans of care to allow individuals to remain in their home. The Developmental Disabilities program provides case management to eligible residents who have a developmental disability that occurred prior to the age of 22 years. The program assists the individual to achieve optimal integration into the community.
Services provided:
- Mental Health Core Service Agency
- Contract management of Public Behavioral Health System grants and services
- Interagency collaboration for local service development
- Grievance handling
- Behavioral health outreach and education
- Access to treatment
- Adult Evaluation and Review Services
- In-home assessments to evaluate functional abilities and needs for continued community based living
- Pre-Admission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) evaluations for individuals with psychiatric disabilities who may need admission to nursing home level of care
- Nurse Monitoring for individuals enrolled in Community Personal Assistance Services, Community First Choice, or Home and Community Based Options Waivers
- Developmental Disabilities Coordination of Community Services Program
- Service coordination (case management) for eligible individuals with developmental disabilities that occurred prior to the age of 22
- Monitor provider services to enrolled individuals with developmental disabilities
- Case management and referral for children with special health care needs
Health Planning & Additional Services, Dan Coulter, Director
(443) 245-3767
This Health Planning Program promotes the health of Cecil County residents by providing health planning and support services. The program leads the collaborative community health improvement process in Cecil County. Epidemiological services include conducting health assessments, project planning and development, and project evaluation. The program supports continuous quality improvement throughout the Health Department.
Services provided:
- Community health assessment, planning, and evaluation
- Accreditation, performance management, and quality improvement
- Health data requests
- Epidemiology
- Health communications
- Workforce development
Emergency Preparedness Program, Denise Hill, Public Health Emergency Planner
(410) 996-5113
This Emergency Preparedness Program promotes the health of Cecil County residents by providing public health emergency planning and support. Emergency preparedness activities include emergency response planning and evaluation, staff training and curriculum development, and developing publications for public use.
Services provided:
- Emergency Preparedness
- Emergency preparedness and response planning
- Staff training
- Education development
- Risk communication
- Emergency Response
Communications, Public Information, and Media Relations, Daniel Staples, Public Information Officer
410-245-3803
The Public Information Officer at Cecil County Health Department acts as chief spokesperson, develops and disseminates all required public notices and messaging, and responds to media inquiries related to public health incidents and emergencies.
CCHD’s communication team oversees the development and maintenance of traditional and social media and websites to support engagement, advance CCHD’s brand identity, amplify CCHD’s impact, and protect CCHD’s reputation.
The communication team also disseminates CCHD’s position on various issues through media statements, press releases, advisories, pitches, opinion editorials, website copy, and other agency-related content.