PHILADELPHIA— The Health Department today announced it has successfully completed a review process to maintain national accreditation status through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). The nonprofit PHAB works to advance and transform public health practice by championing performance improvement, strong infrastructure, and innovation. In maintaining its accreditation status for another five years, the Health Department has demonstrated that it meets PHAB’s quality standards and measures and has the capacity to continue to evolve, improve and advance, thereby becoming increasingly effective at improving the health of the residents of Philadelphia.
PHAB’s accreditation program, which receives support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nation’s governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance.
“Going through national reaccreditation while in the middle of responding to a global pandemic demonstrates the dedication of our Health Department staff to ensure that our work meets evolving rigorous national standards,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole. “I am proud to lead a department with such a committed, highly expert workforce, devoted to utilizing the most effective tools to advance public health, while continually looking for ways to improve our work.”
The Health Department achieved national initial accreditation status through PHAB in November of 2015, after undergoing a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment process to ensure it met a set of quality standards and measures.
“We are extremely pleased to be at the point in the accreditation program where the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, 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.”
Often called the “backbone” of the public health system, public health departments are on the front lines of communities’ efforts to protect and promote health and prevent disease and injury. PHAB-accredited health departments demonstrate great leadership by placing their work for peer review, with the goal of using the feedback obtained during the process to improve the services they provide to their communities.
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About the Public Health Accreditation Board
The Public Health Accreditation Board (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. The development of national public health department accreditation has involved, and is supported by, public health leaders and practitioners from the national, state, local, Tribal, and territorial levels. For more information, contact PHAB Communications Manager Janalle Goosby at jgoosby@phaboard.org. Learn more about PHAB and accreditation at www.phaboard.org, and by signing up for the PHAB e-newsletter.