Title
a. Authorize the Director of Health to initiate the national public health accreditation application process for the Health Department; and
b. Authorize the Director of Health to submit payment for Year 1 and for four subsequent years upon approval for continuation of accreditation process.
Body
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Authorize the Director of Health to initiate the national public health accreditation application process for the Health Department; and
b. Authorize the Director of Health to submit payment for Year 1 and for four subsequent years upon approval for continuation of accreditation process.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Local health departments are now engaging in national public health accreditation, which is intended to improve the quality and performance of public health agencies to ensure local health departments are accountable to their governing bodies, policymakers, and the communities they serve. Public health accreditation provides consistent standards so that people in different states, counties, and regions have access to the same range and quality of services. It also helps maximize scarce resources by encouraging strategic investments to improve people's health, demonstrates accountability to residents and elected officials, and spurs innovation as departments work together to meet their communities' needs. The national accreditation program is currently voluntary and officially began in 2011 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) is the national accrediting organization for public health departments.
The national accreditation process will align activities that are needed for fully implementing Monterey County Health Department's (MCHD) Strategic Plan initiatives and supporting the county-wide performance management system process. This community, staff, inter-, and intra-departmental engagement process will be used to prepare pre-requisite documents and demonstrate evidence of the department's conformity to accreditation standards and measures. Once awarded, accreditation is in effect for five years; as accreditation status nears expiration, health departments apply for reaccreditation.
MCHD has created the Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Unit to oversee MCHD's Strategic Plan implementation and accreditation processes by shifting staff within the department to the new unit. The process timeline and fees are
Please see: Attachment A
The total financial obligation to PHAB for the accreditation process is $31,700 which is to be paid over a five year period. Fees are based on population served and cover training, technical assistance, access to the online accreditation information system, document reviews, site visit, annual quality improvement guidance and recommendations for five years.
Upon authorization, the Director will submit payment in the amount of $7,950 for Year 1 activities to the PHAB.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The CAO Budget Analyst has reviewed and concurs with recommendation. There has been no other County Department or Agency involved in initiating the national public health accreditation application process.
FINANCING:
Payment for Year 1 is $7,950; payments for four subsequent years are $5,963 annually for a grand total of $31,800. There are sufficient appropriations for the first year of its national Local Health Department Accreditation process in Health Department's HEA003-8128 Fiscal Year 2011-12 Adopted Budget and this expense was included in Health Department's HEA003-8128 Fiscal Year 2012-13 Recommended Budget. Approval of this action has no impact to the County General Fund.
Prepared by: Patricia Zerounian, Management Analyst II, 4583
Approved by: Ray Bullick, Director of Health 4526