Award Recognizes Best Practices in Addressing Pressing Public Health Challenges
Washington, DC, July 15, 2026 — Today, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s nearly 3,300 local governmental health departments, named its 2026 Model and Promising Practice Award Winners, an annual recognition of local public health best practices. This year, 42 outstanding local health department programs have been recognized as Model Practices, and 61 programs have been recognized as Promising Practices.
Model Practices are programs demonstrating exemplary and replicable qualities in response to a critical local public health need, and Promising Practices have demonstrated exciting approaches and strategies to local public health issues that are on track to becoming Model Practices. Awardee programs address preparedness and response, improved use of data, infectious disease prevention, tobacco cessation, youth vaping prevention, innovative efforts to prevent substance abuse, and other programs to address chronic disease.
“Local health departments remain committed to supporting their communities across a host of programmatic areas and public health challenges. It is extraordinary to witness local health department officials driving innovation and scaling best practices,” said NACCHO’s Chief Executive Officer Lori Tremmel Freeman. “We are proud to recognize the 2026 Model and Promising Practice Award winners as a showcase of the best and brightest in local public health.”
Winning projects as determined through a competitive, peer-reviewed process will be added to NACCHO’s Model Practice searchable online database where other local health departments can review these best practices and adopt them for use in their communities.
2026 Model Practice Awards Winners:
Alaska
Alaska Department of Health
Arizona
Maricopa County Public Health
Pima County Health Department (2 awards)
California
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (11 awards)
Colorado
Denver Department of Public Health and Environment
Jefferson County Public Health
Larimer County Department of Health and Environment
Florida
Florida Department of Health in Broward County (2 awards)
Illinois
Cook County Department of Public Health
Indiana
Fishers Health Department
Kentucky
Kentucky Department for Public Health, Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch
Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness
Northern Kentucky Health Department
Maryland
Frederick County Health Department
Massachusetts
Boston Public Health Commission
Minnesota
Dakota County Public Health
Olmsted County Public Health Services
Nebraska
Panhandle Public Health District (2 awards)
New York
Albany County Department of Health
Erie County Department of Health and UB School of Nursing
Nassau County Department of Health
The REACH Program at Mount Sinai Hospital
North Carolina
Burke County Public Health
Guilford County Division of Public Health
Ohio
Greene County Public Health
Oklahoma
Tulsa Health Department
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Texas
Harris County Public Health
Houston Health Department
2026 Promising Practice Awards Winners:
Arizona
Pima County Health Department
University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
California
County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health
County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency
Frontline Doulas and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (6 awards)
Colorado
Adams County Health Department
Boulder County Public Health
Jefferson County Public Health (2 awards)
Larimer County Department of Health and Environment
Connecticut
Farmington Valley Health Department
Florida
Florida Department of Health in Broward County (4 awards)
Illinois
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District
Kansas
Saline County Health Department
Kentucky
Whitley County Health Department
Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness
Maryland
St. Mary’s County Health Department (2 awards)
Massachusetts
Boston Public Health Commission, Infectious Disease Bureau
Missouri
Clay County Public Health Center
Cooper County Public Health Center
Nebraska
Central District Health Department
Douglas County Health Department
New Jersey
Middlesex County Office of Health Services
New York
Nassau County Department of Health (2 awards)
North Carolina
Catawba County Public Health and Partners
Wake County Public Health (3 awards)
Ohio
Clermont County Public Health (2 awards)
Hamilton County Public Health
Licking County Health Department
PHDMC and Source Water Protection Partners
Portage County Combined General Health District
Summit County Public Health
Oklahoma
District 6 - Oklahoma State Department of Health
South Dakota
Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center
Tennessee
Hamilton County Health Department
Texas
City of El Paso Department of Public Health - DPH Training Team
Dallas County Health and Human Services
Denton County Public Health Department (2 awards)
Fort Bend County Health and Human Services
Harris County Public Health (2 awards)
San Antonio Metropolitan Health District
Utah
Salt Lake County Health Department
Washington
CoLab for Community and Behavioral Health Policy and Public Health – Seattle and King County
Public Health – Seattle and King County
Wisconsin
Public Health Madison and Dane County
If you would like more information on this year’s Model and Promising Practices, please email [email protected].
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About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.
