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Department of Health Services

Public Health Division

Public Health Division

Animal Shelter

The Sonoma County Animal Shelter is committed to serving the public in the care and well being of animals, both domestic and livestock, throughout the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County, the city of Santa Rosa and the town of Windsor.

Disease Control Surveillance & Response

  • Disease Control Unit: The Disease Control unit is responsible for the investigation of outbreaks of communicable diseases, surveillance of reportable diseases, and provision of educational materials and services to assist communities in reducing the incidence of communicable diseases.
  • Public Health Regional Laboratory: Provides specimen testing services to the counties of Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake and Humboldt in Northern California, training and reference testing to clinical laboratories, and laboratory support for diagnosis and control of communicable diseases to private medical providers.
  • Office of Vital Statistics: Provides birth and death certificates, medical marijuana identification cards, permits for disposition of human remains, and data for communicable disease reporting.
  • Public Health Preparedness: Planning and putting in place programs to respond quickly and effectively to threats endangering the health of the public.

Emergency Medical Services Oversight

Coastal Valleys EMS Agency: Provides oversight to the emergency medical care delivery system in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

Environmental Health & Safety

  • Our Environmental Health and Safety programs promote health and quality of life by preventing or controlling those diseases or deaths that result from interactions between people and the places they live, work and play. Our programs employ several strategies to prevent health hazards including education, surveillance, routine inspections, response to citizen tips, sampling and posting and enforcement where necessary.

Family Health

Healthy Communities

The mission of Healthy Communities is to provide comprehensive, coordinated services in partnership with the community that support healthy societal and behavioral choices for the people of Sonoma County.

  • Tobacco and Nicotine Prevention: Public Health uses tobacco tax funds from Propositions 56 and 99 to conduct tobacco prevention activities, including the Tobacco Education Program, and Tobacco-Free Sonoma County Community Coalition (TFSCCC). We support the passage of policies that reduce tobacco use by youth.
  • Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL): Program staff members are involved in several collaborative projects aimed at increasing the activity level and encouraging healthy eating among Sonoma County residents.
  • Dental Health: The goal of Sonoma County Public Dental Health programs are to work on improving the oral health of Sonoma County children from birth through age 6 years. 
  • Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention: Alcohol and Other Drug Services (AODS) is now part of Behavioral Health. Please click on the link to go to AODS under Behavioral Health.

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information

Beginning May 11, 2023, when the federal public health emergency expired, Sonoma County COVID-19 information, data and resources are exclusively on the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services web pages. 

COVID-19 Information