Fifteen health departments were awarded reaccreditation designation by the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation (NCLHDA) Board on May 10, 2019. They are Albemarle Regional Health Services, Bladen County Health Department, Columbus County Health Department, Public Health Division of Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services, Graham County Department of Public Health, Guilford County Department of Public Health, Jackson County Health Department, Mecklenburg County Health Department, Montgomery County Health Department, Pitt County Health Department, Robeson County Health Department, Rockingham County Division of Public Health, Rutherford-Polk-McDowell District Health Department, Sampson County Health Department and Wilkes County Health Department.
“All of the agencies recently achieving reaccreditation have much to be proud of. They have not only demonstrated their ability to meet a set of important performance standards, but excelled in many areas. Through reaccreditation, these agencies demonstrate a strong commitment to continuously work to improve the quality of services provided to their respective communities,” comments Amy Belflower Thomas, NC Local Health Department Accreditation Administrator.
Pitt County Health Department is one of twelve NC health departments awarded the Reaccreditation with Honors designation. This honorary designation was implemented for the first time in Fall of 2017 to recognize agencies that especially excelled in their accreditation assessment by missing one or less activities within each of five standards set by the NCLHDA program. The program is especially pleased to see that this special recognition was achieved by such a diverse group of local health departments- including rural, urban, large, and small health departments.
In addition to Pitt County Health Department, the following health departments also received this honor: Albemarle Regional Health Services, Bladen County Health Department, Public Health Division of Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services, Graham County Department of Public Health, Guilford County Department of Public Health, Jackson County Health Department, Mecklenburg County Health Department, Robeson County Health Department, Rockingham County Division of Public Health, Sampson County Health Department and Wilkes County Health Department.
North Carolina is the first state in the country to mandate accreditation for its local health departments. The purpose of the accreditation program is to assure a basic level of capacity and services in each of the local health departments across the state.
Since the pilot program involving six local health departments began in 2004, all eighty-five health departments have been initially accredited in NC and as of May 18, 2018, have been reaccredited at least once. The process of accreditation includes three major components – a self-assessment completed by the agency, a site visit by a multidisciplinary team of peers to review performance standards, and determination of accreditation status by an independent Accreditation Board comprised of state and local public health officials, Board of Health members, County Commissioners, and public members.
The NC Local Health Department Accreditation program is a collaboration of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health (part of the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors.
Pictured (left to right): Christopher C. Dobbins, Chair, N.C. Local Health Department Accreditation Board; Andy Smith, NC Local Health Department Accreditation Site Visit Team Leader; Jennifer Hardee, Pitt County Health Department Back-Up Agency Accreditation Coordinator; Amy Hattem, Pitt County Health Department Lead Agency Accreditation Coordinator / Interim Health Director; Jennifer Dickerson, Pitt County Health Department Personnel Officer; Amy Belflower Thomas, NC Local Health Department Accreditation Administrator