Virginia Department of Health

Who We Are

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is dedicated to protecting and promoting the health of Virginians. The VDH is made up of a statewide Central Office in Richmond and 35 local health districts. These entities work together to promote healthy lifestyle choices that can combat chronic disease, educate the public about emergency preparedness and threats to their health, and track disease outbreaks in Virginia.

MISSION

To protect the health and promote the well-being of all people in Virginia.

VISION

Become the healthiest state in the nation.

CORE VALUES

Our culture values service, equity and making data-informed decisions.

GOAL 1
Maintain a competent and valued workforce
Recruit and retain the best employees. Ensure that VDH staff are properly developed and coached. Plan for knowledge transfer and future succession. Demonstrate that VDH employees are valued.

GOAL 2
Foster healthy, connected, and resilient communities
Implement population health strategies in Virginia. Foster community collaboration. Share timely, reliable, actionable, sub-county level data.

GOAL 3
Be a trusted source of public health information and services
Deliver public health information accurately and timely in the format and delivery method in which it is most effective. Create systems, policies, and practices that improve health for all people in Virginia. Make our services more clear and visible to the public user. Reinforce the role and mission of public health to federal, state and to local communities.

GOAL 4
Assure the conditions that improve health opportunity
Build partnerships at the state and local level to increase community capacity to focus on determinants of health. Enact “health in all policy” approaches at the state and local level. Strengthen organizational infrastructure to support health equity.

GOAL 5
Provide internal systems that deliver consistent and responsive support
Create a culture of continuous quality and process improvement at VDH. Establish an internal culture of customer service excellence.