OFFICE OF PRIMARY CARE SERVICES
Jonathan R Foley, Director
(410) 767 6811

The Office of Primary Care Services was formed
within the Local and Familv Health Administration
in July 1994 The Office assures that basic health
care is available to all Maryland residents regardless
of their ability to pay The Office works through
five programs the Primary Care Cooperative
Agreement, the Office of Rural Health, Physician
Loan-Repayment Program, Primary Care fir the
Medically Jndtgewt Program, and the Maryland
Statewide Home-Health Agency

OFHCE OF WOMEN, INFANTS, & CHILDREN
Joan H Salim, Director

201 West Preston St
Baltimore, MD 21201—2399 (410) 767-5231

Created by the Department in 1985, the Of
fice of Women, Infants, and Children administers
the Maryland Special Supplemental Food Pro
gram for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
under federal law (PL 95 627) The Program
offers health and nutrition services, including
supplemental foods, to pregnant, postpartum
and breast feeding women, infants to one year of
age, and children to their fifth birthday To be
eligible, an individual also must meet income
requirements and be at nutritional risk
Funded by the U S Department of Agriculture,
the Program is administered by the Office of
Women, Infants, and Children through grants to
eighteen local agencies that serve the entire State
Each local agency determines recipient eligibility,
prescribes individualized food packages, provides
nutrition education, prepares required records and
reports, and issues food instruments (negotiable
checks used in exchange for approved foods) The
Office ensures that Maryland's Program accords
with federal requirements

LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS
Local health administration preceded the or-
ganization of a State health department by nearly
a century, when, in 1793, Baltimore City estab-
lished a health office to stop an epidemic of
yellow fever The first county health department
was formed by Allegany County in 1922 By
1934, each Maryland county had established its
own health department Today, local health de-
partments in Maryland's twenty-three counties
and Baltimore City are overseen by the Local and
Family Health Administration

MENTAL HYGIENE
ADMINISTRATION

Stuart B Silver, M D , Director of Mental Hygiene
Oscar L Morgan, Deputy Director

201 West Preston St
Baltimore, MD 21201—2399 (410) 767 6611

The Mental Hygiene Administration originated
in 1886 as the State Lunacy Commission (Chapter
487, Acts of 1886) The Commission was estab
hshed to inspect public and private institutions for
the insane and to advise their boards of managers
In 1922, the Commission was replaced by the
Board of Mental Hygiene (Chapter 29, Acts of
1922) The Board, in turn, was superseded by the
Department of Mental Hygiene in 1949 (Chapter
685, Acts of 1949) The 1949 law abolished not
only the Board of Mental Hygiene, but also the
separate governing boards of the State mental hos
pitals, and gave the Department of Mental Hygiene
responsibility for the custody, care, and treatment
of mentally ill persons The Department of Mental
Hygiene became part of the Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene in 1969 and subsequently was
reorganized as the Mental Hygiene Administration
(Chapter 77, Acts of 1969)
The Administration oversees nine mental health
centers
Walter P Carter Center
Crownsville Hospital Center
Eastern Shore Hospital Center
Thomas B Fman Hospital Center
Highland Health Facility Psychiatric Unit
Clifton T Perkms Hospital Center
Spring Grove Hospital Center
Springfield Hospital Center
Upper Shore Community Mental Health Center

The Administration also is responsible for four
residential treatment centers for youth, and one
research center
Focus Point

Regional Institute for Children &
Adolescents— Baltimore

Regional Institute for Children &
Adolescents— Rockville

Regional Institute for Children
& Adolescents — Southern Maryland

Maryland Psychiatric Research Center

The Administration is headed by the Director of
Mental Hygiene, certified in psychiatry by the Amen
can Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and ap-
pointed by the Secretary of Health and Mental
Hygiene With the approval of the Secretary of Health
and Mental Hygiene, the Director of Mental Hygiene
is empowered to make State grants in aid to farther
community mental health services (Chapter 125, Acts