History
The Knox County Health Department was created as a result of a citizen referendum in November 1992. The Knox County Board of Health held its inaugural meeting on December 2, 1992 at Galesburg Cottage Hospital.
Greg Chance was hired as the first Public Health Administrator for the Department on April 3, 1993. The Department was located at 2320F Veterans Drive in Galesburg. The office space was leased from Spoon River Mental Health. Since that time the Agency has grown to operate on a budget of $3.5 million dollars with a staff of 34 employees.
The Health Department now delivers services in five major program areas Environmental Health, Community Health Improvement, Family Health Services, Health Protection and Clinical Services including a health and dental clinic.
In late 1994, the Board of Health recognized that the Department had outgrown its office space located at Veterans Drive in Galesburg. Subsequently, a search for new office space was initiated which concluded with the Department moving into a 14,000 square foot space located at 519 McClure Street in Galesburg. This space once was the administrative office area for the former OMC factory.
In February of 1999, the Board of Health made a decision to build its own facility. A groundbreaking ceremony at the new building site was conducted in August 1999. The Department moved in to the new facility located at 1361 West Fremont Street in Galesburg on May 15, 2000.
In September of 2006, the Knox County Board of Health adopted its third Community Health Improvement Plan for Knox County. This plan identifies six priority health concerns, which need to be addressed in order to assure improvement of the overall health of County residents.
In November of 2007, the Knox County Board of Health celebrated fifteen years of service to the Knox County community. Reaffirming that "The mission of the Knox County Health Department is still to serve Knox County by assessing health and environmental needs, developing policies, and assuring those needs are effectively addressed."
