Friday, October 25, 2013
The people of Green County, dissatisfied with seeing each year their neighbors die with tuberculosis, typhoid fever, dysenteries and diarrheas, their children choked to death with diphtheria, crippled by polio and blinded by venereal diseases decided to establish a health department in 1932. The old health department was in the building behind the courthouse. The budget was about $5,000 for one nurse, one clerk and a health officer. The first nurse was Ms. Kidd.
In that same year, there were 272 live births with a rate of 24 per 1000 population. All 272 were delivered in Green County. There were 263 deaths from diphtheria, whooping cough, typhoid, small pox and tuberculosis.
In 1940, 30% of Greensburg was connected to the public sewer system — all of which was eventually dumped raw into the Green River. In 1950, 60% of Greensburg was on the public sewer system, but it all still ended up being dumped raw into the Green River. In 1961, 100% of Greensburg was on the public sewer system with no raw sewage being dumped into the Green River.
Mrs. Mabel Taylor was the health department nurse in the 40’s, and Mrs. Ruby Moore was the nurse in the 50’s.
In 1952, there were 58,000 polio cases in the U.S.A.
In 1957, the budget for the Green County Health Department was $9,819. The health department services to the people of Green County cost .62 cents per service.
In 1962, after 30 years of public health, the budget was $15,297. There were 92 deaths in 1962, but none were from diphtheria, whooping cough, typhoid, small pox, or tuberculosis. There were only 658 cases of polio in the U.S.A. There were 208 live births in Green County with a rate of 18 per 1000 population. Only 7 were delivered in Green County. Click here to read the 1962 Green County Annual Reprt.
In 1982, the Green County Health Department became a member county of the Lake Cumberland District Health Department.
In 1992, there were 7 employees with a wide variety of services offered at the health department.
In August of 1993, the Green County Health Department moved into a new building on Industrial Park Road. The county judge at the time was Vernon Bagby.
In August of 2008, there was a new addition built on the back of the health department with a basement, new kitchen, new conference and two offices as well as a bathroom.
As of October 2013, there were 12 county employees (4 of these being school nurses) with a part-time environmentalist.
