Our History
Florida Department of Health in Volusia County
- 386-274-0500
- chd64webmaster@FLhealth.gov
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Mailing Address
P.O. Box 9190
Daytona Beach, FL 32120
History of the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County Through the Decades.
- 1930's
- 1940's
- 1950's
- 1960's
- 1970's
- 1980's
- 1990's
- 2000's
- 2010's
- 2020's
In 1931, the Florida Legislature approved a procedure to establish county health units in cooperation with the State Board of Health. Volusia County established a county health unit to provide health care to the citizens in conjunction with the State Board of Health.
Originally, the health department was located on 133 Magnolia Ave. in Downtown Daytona Beach.
In February of 1950, the Visiting Nurses Association was established, and Miss Elizabeth Holley was the director.
In 1950, the VNA moved with the Volusia County. In 1950, the Volusia County Health Unit and the VNAs moved to 440 S. Beach St.
In 1957, Dr. D. V. Galloway became the director. The staff consisted of 36 people with a budget of $220,000.
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During the 1960’s, home health care was a major focus as there was no competition from private providers. The budget for the Volusia County Health Department was $238,715.00 in 1965.
The Volusia Nurses Association began it’s expansion into West Volusia and was officially chartered there in 1966. In 1967, they expanded to New Smyrna Beach.
Also in 1967, Dr. Hubert U. King was named the director of the health unit which provided public health services to include home health services with visiting nurses, child and school health, communicable diseases, environmental health, cardiovascular screenings, dental health, and nutrition.
In 1968, King renovated an old DeLand post office, located at 145 Indiana Ave., at the cost of $85,000, creating the DeLand Health Center. Disease prevention and control was the main goal of the health department. Services that were provided under the direction of Dr. King included:
- Communicable disease surveillance
- Dental care
- Early periodic screening diagnosis and treatment
- Environmental Health
- Family planning
- Health education
- Home health care
- Immunizations
- Prenatal care
In 1971, a Florida State Auditors ruling designated countywide nursing programs or health department nursing programs to be the official providers of public health services.
In 1974, the Volusia County Health Unit was a staff of 100 with $1.2 million budget. It was the first county unit to receive direct federal funding for family planning services.
In 1974, Volusia County received national coverage for having units on the beach advertising “Prevent VD and other STD’s.”
With the support of the Visiting Nurses Association and lo
cal fund raising efforts, the New Smyrna Beach Health Center on Canal Street was completed in April of 1979 to serve the increasing population of southeast Volusia county. As a result of an increase in services, the budget was $2.3 million in 1980 for Volusia County.
In partnership with Halifax Hospital, the Volusia County Health Department took over the Halifax Hospital Indigent Maternity Program. The health department would now provide prenatal and postnatal care to indigent clients throughout Volusia County.
In 1984,
Dr. William Cox was named the new director. There was a $3 million dollar operating budget and approximately 150 employees. The services that were provided included:
- Maternity and family planning
- TB
- Well baby clinics
- Sexually Transmitted Disease services
- Immunizations
- WIC
- Vital Statistics
- Dental care
- Environmental health
- Home health care
Also in 1984, the DeLand clinic was dedicated at 336 E. New York Ave.
In 1985, a Tobacco Free Coalition was established in Volusia County.
In 1986, Volusia County was given one of the first primary care grants in Florida and computers arrived at the health department. The need for additional staff was evident. A pharmacist was hired in addition to more nurses, doctors, clerical staff and field nurses. The staff climbed from 185 employees to 235 employees to meet the demand of the clinic.
In 1986, the health department responded to a new health concern and started treating HIV/AIDS patients. During this time, there was an increased demand for school health services as the county experienced rapid growth. Unfortunately, in 1987 the health department experienced severe financial challenges and laid off some employees.
Governor Bob Martinez responded to a growing epidemic by establishing a substance-exposed program in 1988. The Volusia County Health Department revised the medical record system by establishing a central site for all medical records during 1988-1989. All records would now be kept in one place. In 1987, a new facility at 509 S. Clyde Morris was dedicated.
Dr. Cox retired in 1989 and was replaced by Dr. June Atkinson. When Dr. Atkinson took over as director, there were approximately 300 employees and the budget was about $11 million.
In the early 1990's, the Volusia County Health Department was ranked as one of the top five health departments in the state of Florida.
The focus of Dr. Atkinson during this time was the promotion of the Primary Care Program.The Volusia County Health Department now offered
a full range of services to the public.
Additionally, the Environmental Health Lab was established and combined efforts with the Volusia County Environmental Lab. The Volusia County Health Department had grown to approximately 400 employees providing a wide range of services to the residents of Volusia County.
In 1993, a clinic opened on Keech St. in Daytona Beach. In 1995, the DeLand clinic moved to 1330 S. Woodland Blvd.
In 1996, Dr. Bonnie Sorensen replaced Dr. Atkinson. The budget for the Volusia County Health Department was $17.9 million with over 350 employees. In 1997, a tobacco settlement created a Tobacco Free Program which led to a SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) program working out of the health department.
The focus of public health went back to the roles of traditional public health - epidemiology, health education, communicable diseases, family planning, prenatal care, health information, environmental health, working in partnership with other community agencies, and getting into our community to take the lead in promoting public health.
In the early 2000’s the Volusia County Health Department lead the way in creating informational videos (on CD) for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, septic tanks and swimming pool programs. In 2001, the department’s budget was $21 million and there were 400 health department employees. In 2002, Sorensen was promoted to the Department of Health’s deputy health officer and moved to Tallahassee. Dr. Alfred Adams was hired to replace Dr. Sorensen.
During this time, Volusia County Health Department worked with a number of community partners to open a public health clinic in Deltona to serve the growing population. A partn
ership of citizens, leaders and community partners worked together to improve the county’s quality of life through a community health planning and assessment project (CHIP).
In 2003, Howard Rodenberg, M.D., M.P.H. was named director starting in October and left in February 2005.
Dr. Rodenberg handled a flu vaccine shortage by directing his team to seek creative ways to obtain flu immunizations when it became available.
In 2004, the area was impacted by several storms that destroyed property and electricity was out for extended periods in some areas. FEMA provided ice, water, tarps and insect repellent to citizens. The health department opened special needs shelters and worked closely with Volusia County Emergency Management during this time. Rodenberg and the health department led a unique relief effort along with the American Red Cross and multiple community partners who provided outreach in the Pierson area. Residents came out in large numbers to receive hot meals and relief supplies after being greatly impacted by the storm.
Thomas R. Coleman, M.D., M.S. became director in June 2005 to June 2009.
During that time, the DeLand clinic was impacted by the Groundhog Day tornado of 2007.
Custodial employee Juan Cruz was the first to see the devastation as he reported to work at 6 a.m. He called his supervisor who called the director.
The tornado ripped apart the clinic, the print shop and Environmental Health offices located at a shopping complex on Woodland Avenue.
The building was destroyed.
Dr. Coleman’s senior leadership team immediately worked to relocate employees and services to make sure clients received care with minimal interruption.
Florida Hospital Fish Memorial provided office space for public health services to continue in Orange City on the hospital campus.
Dr. Bonnie J. Sorensen, who was deputy health officer for the state of California, returned to the Volusia County Health Department in August of 2009 during the height of the H1N1 flu period.
The health department teamed up with Volusia County Government and a number of community partners to spearhead the “Let’s Fight Flu Together” campaign. This effort promoted the importance of getting vaccinated for protection against H1N1 influenza.
Dr. Sorensen recognized the value of public health and worked to educated staff and partners about health disparities that exist in our communities and the factors surrounding those issues.
A number of first time projects were implemented such as PACE EH, annual summit, and more. Under Dr. Sorensen’s leadership the health department worked with the hospitals to develop Community Health Improvement Plans and Community Health Assessments.
In 2014, the Florida Department of Health launched a new brand change to Florida Health. The
preferred name for our county health department is Florida Department of Health in Volusia County or DOH-Volusia.
The Florida Department of Health in Volusia County has an operating budget of 22 million dollars and has a workforce of 250 employees.
There are four (4) public health clinics, two (2) dental offices, three( 3) environmental public health offices, two (2) Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program offices, and three (3) Vital Statistics locations.
Patricia Boswell, MPH, was appointed administrator of the Department of Health in Volusia County in March 2016. Prior to joining DOH-Volusia, Boswell served as assistant county health department director and director of clinical services and community health promotion in DOH-Pinellas.
Within six months of her appointment in Volusia County, the new Orange City location opened. The new office consolidated clinical services that had been dispersed in West Volusia following the 2007 tornado that destroyed the DeLand location.
In fall 2016, the first Baby & Me Tobacco Free baby in the state was born in Volusia County. DOH-Volusia launched the state's first program in April and celebrated its first tobacco-free birth six months later.
I
n spring 2020, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) in Volusia County took its health services to the heart of Daytona Beach by opening a location at 421 S. Keech St. Named the Southside Health Zone by the City of Daytona Beach, the location made it easier for clients to access DOH services.
In March 2020, official and unofficial orders to “stay home” in reference to a looming COVID-19 outbreak were given. Covid forced the health department into the mainstream, as the entity seen as the State’s primary authority for testing, vaccine distribution and overall guidance in dealing with the pandemic. Vaccines were first distributed in January 2021.
In April 2022, Stephen Civitelli became the Health Officer in Volusia County with over 17 years of public health experience in Connecticut. In February of 2024, Stephen was also confirmed as the Flagler County’s Health Administrator in a shared county role.
In September and November 2022, Hurricane Ian and Nicole both flooded the health department’s Keech St. location. In September 2024, Keech reopened as a center for women and children becoming our east side home for WIC, Community Health and a prenatal clinic, Baby Steps. In 2025, administration began a much-needed renovation of health department’s Holsonback location.
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