The Onondaga County Health Department has recently been awarded $15,000 to support its progress in meeting the requirements of the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), the first and only voluntary national accreditation program for public health departments. The Onondaga County Health Department is one of 10 local health departments from 10 states to receive this funding through the Accreditation Support Initiative (ASI). A total of 101 local health departments of all sizes and types, ranging from rural to urban applied for this funding.
Now in its fourth year, the ASI was created in 2011 to promote national accreditation readiness among a greater number of local health departments and to support their varying needs to reach accreditation. Funding for the ASI is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Office for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support (CDC) and administered by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).
“Quality improvement is one of the most important investments a local health department can make – always seeking ways to do things better, more efficiently, with just the right amount of resources, and with a greater impact,” said NACCHO Executive Director Robert M. Pestronk. “As a participant in this initiative, the Onondaga County Health Department is taking a big step to ensure better health for the people of Onondaga County.”
The Onondaga County Health Department received funding under the general category of Performance Management. The department will use the grant to develop and implement a performance management system.
“We are grateful to have received the Accreditation Support Initiative funding from the CDC and NACCHO,” said Commissioner of Health Dr. Indu Gupta. “This support will help us improve our performance, achieve our strategic goals, and continue making progress toward better health outcomes for our community.”
More information, including a full list of selected local health departments and descriptions of the work they have been funded to complete, can be found at www.naccho.org/asi.
About the Onondaga County Health Department
The Onondaga County Health Department (OCHD) strives to protect and improve the health of all Onondaga County residents, and includes numerous programs and services to help us achieve this mission. For more information about the OCHD services available in our community, please visit www.ongov.net/health.
About the National Association of County and City Health Officials
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s 2,800 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities.