DHHS News

The First Oral Antiviral for Treatment of COVID-19 is Coming to Utah

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized use of the first oral antiviral for treatment of COVID-19. The emergency use authorization for Paxlovid allows...
Last updated: December 22, 2021

Utah Department of Health Statement on Omicron

Omicron is quickly spreading across the U.S. While our public dashboard only shows 7 confirmed cases of Omicron, it’s very likely that we have far more cases of Omicron in...
Last updated: December 22, 2021

Gov. Cox Names Interim Medicaid Director

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) today announced Gov. Spencer Cox has appointed Tonya Hales as the Interim State Medicaid Director. Hales will serve as...
Last updated: December 17, 2021

CDC and FDA Expand Pfizer COVID-19 Booster Recommendations to 16- and 17-year-olds

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today authorized the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 booster doses...
Last updated: December 9, 2021

COVID-19 Omicron variant discovered in Utah

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) today confirmed the state’s first case of COVID-19 caused by the new Omicron variant. The case was discovered through...
Last updated: December 3, 2021

State Releases Transition Plan for the merger of Utah Departments of Health & Human Services by July 1, 2022

SALT LAKE CITY (Dec. 1, 2021)—Today, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) and the Utah Department of Human Services (DHS) submitted its Transition Plan to the governor and legislature as outlined in State...
Last updated: December 1, 2021

Media contacts

For media inquiries, contact our on-call Public Information Officers (PIO) at:

Joe Dougherty, director of communications

News releases and media statements

Spanish news releases and media statements

We strive to provide all news releases and media statements in Spanish. Our language access team can provide translation services by contacting them at languageaccess.utah.gov.  

Our graphic and writing standards

Our agency name is the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Use DHHS if an acronym is needed. 

  • DHHS graphic standards—This guide outlines how to use our logo, colors, fonts, and imagery in printed and electronic media. 
  • DHHS logos 
  • DHHS writing style guide—This guide creates clear and consistent language and tone across all written products, both internal and external to our agency.

Media guides and safe messaging

How we talk about suicide, mental health, and traumatic events matters. When we follow safe messaging guidelines, we contribute to a hopeful narrative about triumph over adversity. We communicate that support is available. Safe messaging promotes resiliency, encourages help-seeking, publicizes prevention successes, and encourages actions to help prevent suicide. 

When writing about suicide, mental health, or traumatic events follow safe messaging guidelines. Here are some of our favorite resources.