Bringing NACCHO’s 30-Year History into View
In 1965, the National Association of Counties (NACo) and other partners, decided to form an association to represent the voice of local public health. The result was the National Association of County Health Officials, also known as NACHO.
For two decades, the association was a volunteer-only group that worked to serve the needs of local health departments. Then, in 1985, NACHO President Bob Harmon registered the organization as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The following year, NACHO rented its first office space in 440 1st Street NW, Washington D.C. A few years later, in 1989, NACHO held its first annual conference in Covington, Kentucky.
In 1994, the National Association of County Health Officials (NACHO) merged with the U.S. Conference of Local Health Officers (USCLHO) to establish the NACCHO to provide one national voice for local public health.
NACCHO’s Role Amid a Global Pandemic
The past 5 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, showcased the necessity of NACCHO in strengthening and advocating for local public health departments. Over the past 5 years, NACCHO’s work has focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health institutions. COVID-19’s salience has allowed NACCHO to expand and help bring more public health concerns to view, addressing opioid response efforts, preparedness, HIV/STI, infectious disease, and immunizations.
NACCHO continued to support its members in advancing local public health practice by amplifying the work of local health departments (LHDs) through stories and publications, and advocating for more resources and funding on Capitol Hill.
Among its accomplishments, NACCHO created a dashboard called COVID-19 Cases, Testing, launched the COVID-19 Data Lab, supported LHDs in scaling up COVID-19 contact tracing by establishing a resource page, and advocated on Capitol Hill for billions of dollars in COVID funding.
Help NACCHO Celebrate 30 Years Advocating for Local Public Health
NACCHO has had an extensive, extraordinary journey supporting health departments, advocating on behalf of health departments, optimizing strategic alliances and partnerships with a variety of public health entities, and supporting membership engagement.
Help NACCHO celebrate 30 years of serving the country’s over 3,300 local health departments by contributing to our commemorative program. Learn more