Welcome to the Department of Community Health
Our department strives to serve the community as our patient through excellence in education, research, and service in the fields of epidemiology, health systems strengthening, clinical governance, and occupational and environmental health. We are growing into a dynamic and globally relevant discipline of Public Health Medicine integrating clinical insight with population health science to improve the health and well-being of all people in South Africa and beyond.
Our Vision
To be a nationally and globally recognised centre of excellence in Community Health, contributing to healthier communities and resilient health systems where all sectors of society actively participate in advancing health equity and social justice
Our Mission
To strengthen population health and health systems through:
- Innovative education and training of public health professionals;
- High-impact research and knowledge translation that informs health policy and practice; and
- Collaborative partnerships that promote sustainable, people-centred, and equitable healthcare.
Our work is guided by the UFS values of Excellence, Innovation and Impact, Accountability, Care, Social Justice, and Sustainability.
Strategic Process
Our strategic priorities are built around the core functions of the Department of Community Health, ensuring alignment with our mission to improve population health through education, research, and service. Our key focus areas include:
- Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance
- Health Systems Management, Policy, and Planning
- Occupational and Environmental Health
- Public Health Education and Specialist Training
- Global and Community Health Partnerships
Key Result Areas
To achieve our strategic goals, each core functional unit focuses on the following key result areas:
- Education and Training: Developing competent, compassionate, and research-oriented Public Health Medicine specialists and health professionals.
- Research and Innovation: Generating evidence-based knowledge to inform policy, strengthen clinical governance, and improve population health outcomes.
- Service Delivery: Providing expert public health and clinical governance support, including quality improvement, outbreak response, and occupational health services that enhance health system performance.
- Collaboration and Partnerships: Strengthening intersectoral, provincial, and international partnerships to promote research, teaching, and health systems innovation in alignment with national and global health priorities.
- Professional Development: Fostering continuous learning, mentorship, and capacity-building among staff, registrars, and postgraduate students
Provincial Occupational Health Unit
Strategic Plan
The Provincial Occupational Health Unit of the Free State, operating under our Department, is guided by a strategic plan that focuses on:
- Providing occupational health and safety support services across the Free State Province.
- Ensuring the delivery of high-quality occupational health services throughout the province.
- Empowering and developing occupational health personnel and Free State employees to reach their full potential.
Strategic Objectives
The Provincial Occupational Health Unit is committed to achieving the following strategic objectives:
- Establish and maintain effective Health and Safety Systems.
- Support employees and employers with relevant occupational health information to promote safer and healthier work environments.
- Support public and private authorities with clinical and technical expertise on complex occupational health and safety matters.
- Conduct and promote occupational health and safety research.
- Provide staff with appropriate occupational health and safety training and information on available development opportunities.
- Support the Department of Health in developing occupational health and safety policies and procedures.
- Foster active collaboration with key stakeholders and role-players in the field of health and safety.
- Ensure optimal utilisation of available resources within the Provincial Occupational Health Unit.
Provincial Health Service Research Unit
Purpose
The Provincial Health Service Research Unit aims to strengthen healthcare delivery and policy through research, innovation, and collaboration. Its primary purposes are to:
- Provide objective, high-quality information on healthcare to the Free State Department of Health.
- Support the Department of Health in optimising the use of health resources — including priority setting, resource allocation, and quality improvement.
- Enhance understanding of factors influencing the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and acceptability of health services, and contribute to improving these aspects.
- Evaluate new projects, programmes, and service innovations to ensure continuous improvement in health service delivery.
- Contribute to the strategic direction of the Department of Health by supporting the development of a business plan aligned with its vision and goals.
- Facilitate innovation, restructuring, and evaluation of health service processes to improve performance and patient outcomes.
- Increase capacity for research and evidence-based policy-making among health managers, healthcare professionals, researchers, and students.
Strategic Objectives
The Provincial Health Service Research Unit is committed to advancing health system performance and policy development. Our strategic objectives include:
- Generate evidence to inform health policy and service delivery through research in Public Health, Epidemiology, Operations Research, and Health Service Management.
- Enhance the use of existing data and support the creation of new datasets to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of service delivery and health programmes within the Department of Health.
- Facilitate effective knowledge management within the Department of Health to ensure information is shared, accessible, and used for continuous improvement.
- Develop disease and risk behaviour surveillance systems.
Recent Achievements (2022 – 2025)
- Bronze Award, Research Excellence, School of Clinical medicine, UFS, June 2023
- Implementation of the Virtual Exchange Programme with Umeå University (Sweden), engaging more than 400 medical students in global public health learning. (2024- Continuous)
- Exceptional Academic Achievers Awards, Learning and Teaching Khothatsa Project, UFS, October 2024 (presented to Dr RS Mokoena)
- Best Innovation Award (Technology), for Hospital Procedure Booking System (HPBS) in Partnership with the Free State Department of Health, Bophelo Performance Excellence Awards, FSDOH, September 2025.
- Increased Public Health Medicine registrar throughput and postgraduate research productivity.
- Expansion of Community Service Learning (CSL) and outreach projects addressing HIV prevention, adolescent health, and environmental safety.
- Growth in academic output, publications, and conference presentations contributing to national health policy dialogue.
Looking Ahead: 2025 – 2030 Strategic Priorities
- Reposition as a national leader in Public Health Medicine education and research.
- Expand postgraduate capacity through academic mentorship and fellowships.
- Institutionalise implementation science for continuous health-system improvement.
- Enhance digitalisation in teaching, research, and departmental management.
- Strengthen regional & international partnerships to elevate the UFS global footprint in public health
We encourage you to take the next step towards your future with us by contacting the Department of Community Health for additional information directly.