Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County (Public Health) has successfully completed a review process to maintain national accreditation status through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) . In maintaining its accreditation status for another five years, Public Health has demonstrated that it meets PHAB’s quality standards and measures and has the capacity to continue to advance, evolve, and improve the health of the residents of Montgomery County.
“We are proud to learn that our health department has once again met the standards for national accreditation. National accreditation demonstrates that we are a high-performing health department, and that we are committed to continually improving our services, value and accountability to our community. This designation was only possible due to the phenomenal efforts of our employees, and with support from our Board of Health and community partners” said Jennifer Wentzel, Health Commissioner, Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County.
The goal of the voluntary national accreditation program is to improve the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of all health departments. It is the measurement of a health department’s performance against a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused, and evidence-based standards.
“We are extremely pleased to be at the point in the accreditation program where Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County, along with many others, are successfully maintaining their five-year accreditation status through PHAB,” said PHAB President and CEO Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, FAAN. “In so doing, these health departments are assuring their communities that the value of accreditation is long-term -- not a one-time recognition -- and that continual improvement is the hallmark of a 21st century organization.”
To receive national accreditation through PHAB, a health department must undergo a rigorous, peer-reviewed assessment process to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of public health quality standards and measures. Those standards cover a broad range of services, including community health assessment and improvement planning, epidemiology, infectious disease control, health inspections, health education and promotion, and emergency preparedness.
Benefits of Accreditation Include:
- Promotes a culture of quality and performance improvement
- Increases capacity to respond to public health emergencies
- Encourages the use of equity as a lens to identify health priorities
- Strengthens health departments to better serve communities
- Assures stakeholders that the health department is delivering Foundational Capabilities
Key Actions taken by Public Health for Reaccreditation:
- Ensured implementation, monitoring, and Quarterly reporting of agency-wide Strategic Work Plan
- Implemented Clear Impact Scorecard as the designated Performance Management software for Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County
- Prioritized Health Equity throughout all areas of Public Health, including Workforce Development, Emergency Preparedness, and Strategic Initiatives
- Maintained 3-5 year reviews of all agency Plans, Policies, and Guideline documents
- Conducted Program Reviews and Evaluations to continually advance a Culture of Quality
- Routinely communicated important health information with the Public via website, social media, advertisements, and Program activities
- Incorporated community voices in the development and review of Public Health messaging strategies
- Advocated for evidence-based/best practice policies impacting our community
- Maintained and developed internal committees to advance compliance with PHAB Standards & Measures (e.g. Ethics Committee; Performance Management & Quality Improvement Committee; Diversity, Equity, Belonging & Inclusion Committee)
- 115 annotated documents submitted
About the Public Health Accreditation Board: As the sole national accrediting body for public health in the U.S., PHAB supports health departments to improve quality, accountability, and performance. PHAB was created to serve as the national public health accrediting body and is jointly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
