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QUICK LINKS
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1600 Duke Street
Suite 440
Alexandria, VA 22314
703.778.4549
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 What an exciting year 2009 has been for PHAB and for those invested in public health accreditation! As we look back over the year, we are proud of the advances we've made, and acknowledge that they wouldn't have been possible without all of our valuable partners.
In 2009 PHAB staff, Board, and volunteers:
- Vetted and reviewed all public comments on the standards and measures, made necessary revisions, and adopted revised standards and measures;
- Adopted an accreditation assessment process;
- Kicked off the accreditation Beta Test with a two-day training session of the Accreditation Coordinators from the 30 selected sites;
- Released a call for Beta Test volunteer site visitors and an application;
- Held discussion Think Tanks with environmental public health leaders, Tribal health leaders, representatives of state-based accreditation programs, and centralized states;
- Launched a new and improved PHAB website; and
- Hired three new staff members.
As we look back over our progress in 2009, we realize that our success would not have been possible without the partners, experts, practitioners, researchers, funders, and leaders on the national, state and local levels who have helped to guide and support the public health accreditation initiative. Because of your involvement, PHAB has the support it needs to continue working to advance the quality and performance of all public health departments in the country. I remind you of our vision: to have a high-performing public health system that will make us a healthier nation. We are well on our way!
We look forward to working in partnership with you in the year ahead and beyond. Thank you, and happy holidays! Kaye Bender, PhD, RN, FAAN
PHAB President & CEO |
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Provide Feedback on Beta Test Documents |
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PHAB is pleased to announce the launch of an opportunity for you to review Beta Test documents and submit feedback to PHAB. The user-friendly system is available through the PHAB website, and will allow PHAB to collect comments from any interested individual in a uniform manner. PHAB encourages you to use this feedback system, as your thoughts and suggestions will help to refine the documents before the national program launch in 2011. The first three documents (Guide to Accreditation, Readiness Checklist, and Statement of Intent) are posted and ready for review. |
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Call for Beta Test Site Visitor Volunteers |
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PHAB has issued a call for volunteers to be site visitors of the Beta Test site health departments as they go through the accreditation process. If you would like to volunteer, please complete an application and submit it to PHAB no later than January 29, 2010. |
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Environmental Public Health Think Tank |
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PHAB convened leaders of the environmental public health community to discuss and explore the benefits, opportunities, and challenges presented by public health accreditation. A productive two-day meeting yielded plans and action steps to collaborate with PHAB and to inform environmental public health practitioners about how they can use the standards and measures to improve the practice of environmental public health. A report will be developed and the Think Tank will meet again later in 2010, and talking points from the initial meeting are now available on the PHAB website. |
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Tribal Health Department Visit and Think Tank |
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PHAB partnered with the National Indian Health Board to convene a meeting in Arizona with Tribal health leaders. They discussed working together to ensure ongoing Tribal input and engagement in the accreditation process, including how to adapt the standards, measures, and guidance for documentation for Tribal settings. Directors of the three Tribal Beta Test sites participated in the meeting and were congratulated and thanked for their work as leaders in Tribal participation in accreditation.
The day before the Think Tank, PHAB staff members, Kaye Bender and Robin Wilcox; William Riley, the Chair of the PHAB Board; two PHAB Board members, Edward Harrison and Marie Fallon; and Pamela Russo of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) visited the health department of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The Tohono O'odham Nation is in the middle of the Sonoran Desert and has a land base of 2.85 million acres. The work of the department is very impressive and includes public health services, human services, and food distribution. PHAB was grateful to have the opportunity to visit the department, meet the program directors, and tour several of their buildings. It was an enlightening and inspiring day!
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Accreditation Research News |
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We'd like to congratulate the North Carolina Institute of Public Health for their receipt of a $150,000 Public Health Law Research grant from RWJF to study different legal approaches to accreditation. |
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Quality Improvement Articles |
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The January/February 2010 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice is dedicated entirely to "Quality Improvement in Public Health." Several PHAB staff members, Board members, and partners, along with many other thought leaders in the field, contributed articles on accreditation and quality improvement (QI). RWJF is providing complimentary access to this issue, and we encourage you to read the articles online. |
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Loss of a Public Health Colleague and Leader |
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 In December 2009, we also said "good-bye" to a public health colleague and leader, Dr. Ed Thompson, State Health Officer for Mississippi. Dr. Thompson was a long-standing supporter of public health performance, QI, and accreditation. He is credited for being a leader in securing the initial funding for accreditation from both the CDC and RWJF, and his home state of Mississippi is a Beta Test site. We extend our sympathy to the Mississippi State Department of Health employees for their loss and our pledge to keep Dr. Thompson's vision going as we launch the accreditation program in 2011!
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