As individual organizational units, not necessarily being viewed specifically within any of the four common models described in Table 1, the most common local public health organization responsible for providing public health services at the local level, is the county health department. In this form, local county health departments function as agents of the state granting them this authority and bear the responsibilities delegated to them in assuring the health of their respective population. Four out of five LHDs, nationally, are organized at the county level, though this is not the most common local public health unit found in the
New England states [7].