Public Health Accreditation is a voluntary national program developed to measure health department performance against an established set of nationally recognized, practice-focused, and evidenced-based standards. Overseen by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) and jointly supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PHAB modeled its accreditation requirements on the Ten Essential Public Health Services to ensure all applicants meet or exceed an established baseline of quality and service.

While Public Health Accreditation is voluntary nationally, the state of Ohio is the first and currently only state to mandate all health departments reach an accredited status by the year 2020. An accredited status awarded by PHAB lasts for five years and requires annual progress reports to ensure continuous program and process improvement. Towards the end of the five year span, a department must submit for re-accreditation to sustain its status.

On August 21, 2018, the Knox Public Health become the 21st health department in the state of Ohio/223rd in the nation to become nationally accredited. We proudly display the PHAB logo as our organization’s official identifying mark. PHAB’s logo represents its role as a catalyst for change and the continous improvement for which it encourages public health officials to strive. The squared shape implies a solid and reliable source for national accreditation. For more information on PHAB, go to their website at www.phaboard.org. 

Knox Public Health must prove we are meeting and exceeding the nationally set standards within 12 Domains that represent the core functions of what we do as a public health agency. They are: Assess Investigate, Inform & Educate, Community Engagement, Policies & Plans, Public Health Laws, Access to Care, Workforce, Quality Improvement, Evidence-based practices, Administration & Management, and Governance.