Following the reform of the health care system in Quebec at the beginning of the 1970s, 32 Community Health Departments (départements de santé communautaire or DSC) were created; these new organizations were administratively and physically integrated into 32 acute care hospitals throughout the province. Our study investigates to what extent variations in the implementation of DSCs and in the way they have fulfilled their mandate influence the degree of innovation of their practices. The results show that DSCs devoting greater efforts to research activities and to their relationships with other health care establishments and agencies achieve a higher level of innovation in their practices.