The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) launched the voluntary National Accreditation for Health Departments in September 2011.
Public health department accreditation is defined as the development of a set of standards, a process to measure health department performance against those standards, and reward or recognition for those health departments who meet the standards.
In order to continue to provide services that meet and exceed nationally recommended levels, we are starting the process of preparing to apply for PHAB accreditation in the next two to three years.
There are many steps a district needs to take before filing an official application, including:
- Developing a Community Health Assessment.
- Building support for the assessment process both internally and externally.
- Initiating a self-assessment to determine programs and services to highlight as models, as well as identifying those in need of improvement.
We recently received an accreditation preparation grant from the National Association of County and City Health Officials, which will allow us to focus on several of these preparatory steps.
Achieving accreditation will provide recognition of the valuable work we are doing and positively demonstrate staff’s commitment to attaining the highest level of performance in delivering essential public health services. In the future, national funding opportunities may also be tied to this achievement.
Going through a self-assessment process and receiving feedback from the site visit committee will provide us with valuable, measurable feedback on our strengths and the areas where improvements may be needed, which will help in the prioritization of services during this tough economy.
Staff will learn quality and performance improvement techniques that can be applied to many programs. Most importantly the process will build credibility and demonstrate accountability to elected officials, governing bodies, and the public.
For more information about the accreditation process, visit www.PHABoard.org. 
