Many public service entities (e.g., schools, police departments) are accredited. Until recently there was no national accreditation program for health departments. In September 2011 the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a nonprofit organization, launched its voluntary national accreditation program. The goal of this program is to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of Tribal, state, local and territorial public health departments. To obtain accreditation a health department must demonstrate its performance against a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused and evidenced-based standards.

On March 7, 2014 Cecil County Health Department issued its Statement of Intent to apply for accreditation. This was the first step in our journey towards accreditation.

On August 7, 2014 Cecil County Health Department submitted its application to PHAB. This application serves as a formal notification to PHAB of the health department’s commitment to initiate the accreditation process. The application consisted of 3 prerequisite documents; the Community Health Needs Assessment, the Local Health Improvement Plan, and our Department Strategic Plan. A letter of support from the county executive and council president and our organizational chart were also submitted. The application was accepted by PHAB on August 15, 2014.

August 2014 – February 2016: Cecil County Health Department staff conducted a thorough review to ensure that our work meets national accreditation standards.

February 9, 2016: Cecil County Health Department submitted its documentation to PHAB.

October 19-20, 2016: A team of peer reviewers from PHAB completed a site visit to Cecil County Health Department and interviewed staff along with representatives of partner organizations, local government and state officials. The reviewers provided feedback on the Health Department’s strengths and areas for improvement and made a recommendation to the Public Health Accreditation Board to award accreditation status.

March 14, 2017: Cecil County Health Department was accredited for five years by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). This milestone accomplishment is official recognition that our health department meets or exceeds national standards for high quality public health services, leadership, and accountability. The accreditation process helps to ensure that the programs and services we provide are responsive to the needs of our community. Achieving accreditation signifies our commitment to continuous quality improvement so that we can meet our community’s needs as effectively as possible. PHAB accreditation demonstrates our accountability and credibility to everyone with whom we work.

It was a long, but worthwhile journey to become accredited as a public health department. Going through the process helped us to identify our strengths and weaknesses; establish department-wide performance management and quality improvement processes; improve communication and collaboration with the public, our public health system partners, and our government; and ensure that we have the capacity to deliver the 10 Essential Public Health Services. While this stage of the accreditation journey is complete, Cecil County Health Department remains committed to continuous quality improvement to meet the needs of Cecil County residents.