Deschutes Public Health Dept. receives accreditation
The Deschutes County Health Services Public Health Division was notified on June 18 that it has met the required standards to be considered an Accredited Health Department.
Deschutes County Health Services is one of the first 50 health departments across the country and only the second Local Health Department in Oregon to receive National Accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board, the independent organization that administers the National Public Health Accreditation program.
“Public health accreditation means that Deschutes County Health Services has met a high standard of excellence to ensure programs and services are responsive to the needs of our community,” said Deschutes County Administrator Tom Anderson. “With accreditation, Health Services is demonstrating increased accountability and credibility to the public, government and partner organizations with whom we work. We are very, very proud of this accomplishment.”
The national accreditation program, jointly supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nation’s more than 3,000 governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance.
To receive accreditation, a health department must undergo a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment process to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of quality standards and measures.
The National Accreditation Program works to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of the nation’s Tribal, state, local and territorial public health departments.
The national accreditation program was created collaboratively over a 10-year period by hundreds of public health practitioners working at the national, Tribal, state, and local levels. Since the program’s launch in September 2011, nearly 130 health departments have applied to PHAB for accreditation, and hundreds of public health practitioners from across the nation have been trained to serve as volunteer peer site visitors for the program.
To learn more about PHAB, please visit www.phaboard.org
