DHHS News

UDOH announces changes to risk assessment process for accessing scarce COVID-19 treatments

(Salt Lake City) – The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) today announced changes to the state’s risk assessment process used to prioritize access to COVID-19 medical treatments. The changes are...
Last updated: January 21, 2022

New Program Launched to Increase Access to Medical Cannabis for Qualifying Patients

 (Salt Lake City, UT) – The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) and medical cannabis pharmacies launched a program today to increase access to medical cannabis for qualifying patients.  The program allows any...
Last updated: January 19, 2022

UDOH Statement on COVID-19 Treatment Risk Score Calculator

(Salt Lake City) – Use of the risk score calculator has evolved throughout the pandemic, but has always relied on current clinical data of COVID-19 patients. Given the extreme scarcity...
Last updated: January 11, 2022

State Medicaid Director Update

SALT LAKE CITY (January 10, 2022) – On December 16, 2021, Governor Spencer Cox announced the appointment of Jack Szczepanowski as the state’s new Medicaid Director. Unfortunately, due to an...
Last updated: January 10, 2022

CDC recommends booster doses for 12-15 year olds

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last night recommended the use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine booster doses for people between the ages of...
Last updated: January 6, 2022

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.