Latest updates: Hurricane Helene
Our public health departments' hours of operation may be affected by power and staffing outages. This means that some closures may not appear on the state government office delays and closings map. The health and safety of our employees and our clients remains our highest priority. We are working to get services restored as safely and quickly as possible.
Learn more about DPH's role with hurricanes, floods, and weather emergencies.
A body piercing facility is any room, space, location, area, structure, mobile unit or business, or any part of any of these places, identifiable by a mailing address, where body piercing is practiced or where the business of body piercing is performed.
A birthing center is a facility or other place where human births are planned to occur. This does not include the usual residence of the mother or any facility which is licensed as a hospital or the private practice of a physician who attends the birth.
An Ambulatory Surgical Facility is organized and administered for the purpose of performing surgical procedures and/or endoscopy for patients scheduled to arrive, receive surgery, and be discharged on the same day. This definition does not apply to any facility used as an office or clinic for the private practice of licensed healthcare professionals.
An abortion clinic is any facility, other than a hospital as defined in Section 101.J of Regulation 61-12, in which any second trimester or five or more first trimester abortions per month are performed.
Testing for phenylketonuria (PKU) began in 1965. A 1976 law made testing mandatory unless parents had religious objections. The other tests were recommended by the Newborn Screening Advisory Committee and approved by the agency.
To support school districts in their efforts to provide all students with a healthy and safe learning environment, the S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control (S.C. DHEC) and the State Department of Education jointly employ a State School Nurse Consultant. The State School Nurse Consultant provides guidance regarding school health and school nursing services to school districts and other entities upon request.
The State School Nurse Consultant also works with school nurse leaders from around the state to:
If you provide care for a patient who has been bitten by an animal - whether the animal involved is a pet, stray, farm animal, exotic pet or wild animal - you are required to report the name, age, gender, weight, address and telephone number of the person bitten to DPH no later than the end of the next working day.
This is the DPH Guide for Rabies Risk Assessment and Postexposure Prophylaxis (PEP)
CDC recommendations for veterinarians.
Read the Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control, 2016 (pdf). Reviewed yearly by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, this document has helped standardize approaches to animal rabies prevention and control in the U.S.
Whether you treat humans or animals, feel free to contact us for guidance, help and information.
