Illinois. Dept. of Public Health.

When the Department of Public Health was created by the Civil Administrative Code of 1917 it was allocated all the powers and duties formerly held by the Board of Health, except those relating to the regulation of the practices of medicine and embalming, which were assigned to the Department of Regulation and Education. The responsibilities included investigations into causes of disease, especially epidemics; distribution of vaccines free of charge to the citizens of the state; and general supervision over sanitation practices, particularly in public water supplies, sewage systems, and state-operated institutions. The department also was responsible for maintaining chemical, bacteriological, and biological laboratories both for the diagnosis of disease and for the examinition of milk, water, sewage, and waste. Also under the department's jurisdiction was the collection of vital statistics and continuance of the statewide system for the registration of births and deaths. The department's responsibilities have remained basically unchanged since 1917. It was, however, given the authority in 1967 to enter into contracts and agreements with federal and other non-state public and private agencies that would benefit the health of the people of the state (L. 1967, p. 594).