SC Public Health | Accreditation

Accreditation

The Sandusky County Health Department is an accredited health department as of November 26, 2018. Being one of the top 25 health departments in the state to achieve this national standard.

The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) defines accreditation as the development of a set of standards, a process to measure health department performance against those standards, and as a means to reward and recognize health departments that meet these standards. Accreditation through PHAB provides a means for the Health Department to identify performance enhancement opportunities, to improve management, develop leadership, and revitalize relationships with community partners and shareholders.

Only a few of the more than 1,200 public health departments in the country have currently achieved accreditation standing. The Sandusky County Health Department wants to inform county residents that, by working hard to join that elite group in 2018, it is aggressively engaged in activities designed to make Sandusky the healthiest county in the state.

Tools created with US Public Health Service agencies and other major public health organizations are being used to measure the current abilities and needs of our local health department. Strategic planning is taking place to focus in on highest priorities both within the department and in the community. SCHD is using the National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP) to measure SCHD against the national standards.

This program focuses on the 10 Essential Public Health Services:

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10 Essential Public Health Services

The Essential Public Health Services provide the fundamental framework for the NPHPSP instruments, by describing the public health activities that should be undertaken in all communities.

The Core Public Health Functions Steering Committee developed the framework for the Essential Services in 1994. This steering committee included representatives from US Public Health Service agencies and other major public health organizations.

The Essential Services provide a working definition of public health and a guiding framework for the responsibilities of local public health systems.

Monitor health status to identify and solve community health problems.
Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.
Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems
.Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.
Assure competent public and personal health care workforce.
Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services.
Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.