NH DHHS Thanks the Manchester Health Department and the City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services for Their Essential Partnership during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Concord, NH – As the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and its Division of Public Health Services (DPHS) wish to thank the leadership, staff, and volunteers at the Manchester Health Department and the City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services for their steadfast partnership and commitment to public health throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As the two largest cities in New Hampshire, Nashua and Manchester are the only ones with dedicated public health agencies, which allowed DHHS to oversee the statewide pandemic response and support local public health agencies while they managed the response in their cities.

“Our partnerships with Nashua and Manchester’s health departments have always been important, but they were never more critical than during COVID-19,” said DHHS Interim Commissioner Lori Weaver. “We are grateful to these public health agencies, who served the cities of Manchester and Nashua well for the past three-plus years. We thank the City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services and the Manchester Health Department for their partnership, their dedication to their residents’ health, and their support to our staff during the pandemic.”

“The Manchester Health Department and the City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services are to be commended for their responses to COVID-19,” said Tricia Tilley, Director of DPHS. “DPHS partners with both agencies on a day-to-day basis to support public health in their cities and those partnerships set a solid foundation we can rely on in times of emergency. Both stepped up during the pandemic and always went above and beyond to protect the health of their communities. I personally wish to acknowledge that our strong working relationships with both agencies were essential in our comprehensive statewide response to this historic pandemic.”

The City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services (DPHCS) is led by Director Bobbie Bagley. The DPHCS is the Chief Public Health Strategist for the Greater Nashua Public Health Region (GNPHR) and is the first accredited health department in New Hampshire. DPHCS provides a range of direct services and engages a variety of partners on strategic initiatives to ensure the health and wellbeing of every member of the Nashua community.

Established in 1839, the City of Manchester Health Department (MHD) is led by Director Anna Thomas, and is an innovative and proactive local health department grounded in the principles and application of core public health functions. Sixty full and part-time staff work within four branches: Neighborhood and Family Health, School Health, Infectious Disease, and Environmental Public Health/Emergency Response.