Columbia, MD – The Howard County Health Department announced today that it has achieved national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). The national accreditation program works to promote and protect the health of the public by advancing continuous quality improvement and performance of all public health departments.
The attainment of accredited status comes after a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment process, which ensured the Health Department met or exceeded criteria established for a set of evidence-based quality standards and measures for public health.
“We are pleased and excited to be recognized for demonstrating our ability to meet and exceed national performance standards that promote effectiveness and encourage continuous quality improvement,” said Health Officer Dr. Maura Rossman. “The accreditation process helps to ensure that the programs and services we provide continue to be responsive to the needs of our community. With accreditation, the Howard County Health Department is displaying increased accountability and credibility to the public, funders, elected officials and partner organizations with which we work.”
“This year, U.S. News & World Report named Howard County the tenth ‘Healthiest Community’ in the nation. Now, with their impressive national accreditation, our Health Department is helping us move even closer to number one,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “I congratulate every member of our Health Department staff for their dedication to the wellbeing of our residents and their commitment to this years-long accreditation process. We are fortunate to have such stellar partners in our work to address the opioid crisis, prevent youth suicide, and make Howard County a model of public health for all.”
During this three-year process, the Health Department submitted documentation examples that demonstrated conformity with 100 performance measures across 12 domains of public health practice. Included among these were the Community Health Assessment Process, Community Health Improvement Plan, the Department’s Strategic Planning Process and Performance Management System, as well as several Local Health Improvement Coalition activities, all of which were closely linked to partnerships with key stakeholders throughout the county and state.
Howard County now joins the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and local health departments from seven Maryland counties (Allegany, Cecil, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Wicomico and Worcester) who have PHAB accreditation. To maintain the awarded status, health departments must be reaccredited every five years.
“Across Maryland, great work is being done to provide effective local public health services,” said MDH Deputy Secretary for Public Health Frances Phillips. “It is exciting to see another one of our counties gain national public health accreditation. We commend the Howard County Health Department for achieving this prestigious recognition for the high-quality services it provides to the community.”
Jointly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PHAB’s accreditation standards are set to ensure health departments have the capacity to provide the public health services communities require, including health inspections, epidemiology, health education, infections disease control, public health emergency preparedness amongst others. The development of national public health department accreditation has involved and is supported by public health leaders and practitioners from the national, tribal, state, local, and territorial levels.