About DHEC
DHEC - What We Do
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control touches the life of every South Carolinian every day. Each year, agency staff:
- Make about 70,000 visits to restaurants across the state to review and rate food safety practices and counsel managers on making improvements;
- Perform more than 650,000 lab tests to screen newborns for a range of health conditions;
- Ensure that infectious waste — nearly 8,000 tons generated by more than 5,000 facilities in South Carolina — is packaged, transported and disposed of in a safe manner;
- Operate a statewide network of public health clinics, serving more than 400,000 individuals;
- Provide funding, education and technical assistance for more than 100 recycling programs;
- Educate farmers on the dangers posed by overuse of antibiotics in animals raised for dairy and food and show them how to minimize damage to water quality from animal waste;
- Perform around 250,000 lab tests to identify microbiological, radiological and chemical contaminants;
- Issue about 300,000 copies of birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates;
- Respond to hazardous chemical releases, oil spills, hurricanes and other environmental emergencies whenever they occur, around the clock;
- Order and distribute about 1.8 million doses of vaccine to more than 580 enrolled immunization practices;
- Monitor industrial emissions and advise companies on how to minimize air pollution and solid and hazardous waste;
- Provide home health care services to residents in underserved areas;
- Advise legislators on health and environmental consequences of proposed laws;
- Inspect nearly 20,000 nursing homes to ensure they are complying with state and federal standards before we certify them for government reimbursements;
- Administer the Best Chance Network, which pays for breast and cervical cancer screenings for more than 10,000 15,000 low income and uninsured women ages 40-64;
- Perform more than 170,000 lab tests for sexually transmitted diseases and coordinate funding for nearly 60 local services for HIV/AIDS patients;
- Issue more than 24,000 environmental permits;
- Inspect hospitals and track hospital-acquired infection rates for select procedures;
- Evaluate and issue Certificates of Need for new or expanding health care facilities;
- Analyze data on births and deaths to assess the state's health status;
- Monitor the quality of public water supplies;
- Work with local veterinarians to coordinate low-cost rabies clinics that vaccinate more than 30,000 pets;
- Educate children about dental health;
- Investigate approximately 7,000 pollution allegations;
- Manage 578,000 acres of shellfish harvesting waters, inspect 250 shellfish handling facilities, and analyze around 5,500 water samples to assess shellfish harvesting waters;
- Evaluate sites for septic tank suitability, inspect septic tank installations for new homes, and issue about 25,000 permits to operate septic tanks;
- License 1,200 septic tank installers, pumpers and haulers, and inspect vehicles used to pump or transport sewage;
- Track 12,000 underground storage tanks for possible pollution leaks;
- Certify emergency medical services staff and their equipment;
- Authorize hazardous waste transport;
- Conduct nearly 30,000 sanitation inspections on more than 6,500 public pools and recreational water facilities (such as water parks);
- Operate tobacco-prevention programs and help youth and adults quit smoking;
- Inspect sewage treatment facilities;
- Provide nutrition counseling and food supplements to women and children through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) serving an average of 134,000 clients per month;
- Evaluate proposed development affecting wetlands;
- License 22 facilities that use or store radioactive materials;
- Inspect about 75 dairies and a dozen soft drink plants, and perform over 20,000 tests on milk and dairy products;
- Perform lab testing for over 90 percent of the state's tuberculosis patients and maintain a statewide TB registry to help control the spread of the disease;
- Issue daily ozone forecasts April 1 - September 30 for a 34-county area;
- Develop and enforce regulations that carry out state and federal laws concerning public health and the environment*;
- Investigate infectious disease outbreaks of public health significance affecting more than 4,000 residents statewide;
- Statewide monitoring and treatment of over 200 tuberculosis patients;
- Enhance coastal tourism through the preservation and restoration of the public beach;
- Partner with coastal communities and local governments to promote public access to beaches;
- Protect and restore the health and safety of coastal waterways through the identification and removal of abandoned vessels and marine debris;
- And much more.
* See the South Carolina Code of Laws and the federal government’s USA.gov Web site