Health District

Mission

To improve the health and well-being of the citizens and environment of our county.

Vision

Create the healthiest county in Texas where all people can live, work, play, and thrive.

Core Values

Excellence: We are dedicated to implementing best practices and continuously improving our effectiveness through the use of data, evidence, and innovation.

Equity: We actively seek to understand the lived experiences of individuals and communities and use an equity framework to guide all programs, policies, and practices.

Accountability: We hold ourselves to the highest standards, and as effective managers of the public trust are accountable to all residents of McLennan County.

Commitment: We remain steadfast in our championing of opportunities to improve health, community wellness, and access to services.

Empowerment: We provide members of our community with the resources, services, tools, support, and information they need to make healthy choices.

Environmental Health Division

• Food Handler & Food Manager’s Certification courses available online in 8 languages!
• Food establishment regulation program that permits and inspects where food is stored, prepared, served, or sold, such as, restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, cafeterias, schools, nursing homes, bars, mobile food vendors and temporary food booths.
• Annual Childcare facility inspections
• Annual swimming pool inspections
• Enforces smoking ordinances for cities who have adopted this policy.
• OSSF (On-Site Sewage Facilities) program regulates all installations and maintenance of septic systems and other types of sewage disposal systems.
• Provides information and referrals about additional environmental health topics as requested.

Health Equity, Promotion, & Prevention (HEPP) Division

Clinical Services Division

Vital Statistics Division

• Issue certified copies of long form birth record filed in Waco dating 1910 – present.
• Issue certified copies of abstract form birth records filed in Texas dating 1926 – present
• Issue certified copies of death records for death that occurred in Waco.
• Provide guidance to correcting Texas birth and death registrations.

Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) Division

• Provides nutrition counseling.
• Offers food benefits for grocery stores.
• Breast-feeding counseling and support.
• Teaches nutrition classes.
• Showcases cooking demos.

Waco-McLennan Public Health had a busy year in 2024!

From unveiling our new logo to Plugging Into Community Conversations at our conference to working in the community to decrease Syphilis to promoting health and wellness to all ages, we continued to work toward our vision of creating the healthiest county in Texas where ALL people can live, work, play, and thrive.

The 2024 Annual Report showcases how the Health District spent 2024 focusing on ways to expand our service and visibility into the McLennan County community. To read the full report, click the link below.

Waco-McLennan Public Health 2024 Annual Report(PDF, 4MB)

If you would like to request the Health District present at your event or attend your event, we have a wide variety of health topics available. However, if there is a specific topic not listed below that you wish to have information on, please let us know. Presentations may be geared to the age of the audience, from children to adult. Our health topics include, but are not limited to:

• Hygiene & Human Development
• Nutrition & Exercise
• Chronic Disease
• Tobacco Prevention and Cessation
• Worksite Wellness
• Other Health Topics by Request

For questions, please contact us at healthed@wacotx.gov.

To schedule a presentation or event, click the Event Request Form link below.

Event Request Form

Are you interested in volunteering or interning with the Health District? Please fill out the application.

Volunteer/Intern Application