On Tuesday, March 14, Dr. Wynn Mabry, Mecklenburg County Health Director appeared before the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners to brief them on a program begun by the State of North Carolina designed to ensure that every county in the state is providing all of the essential public health services for its citizens.
North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation began to take shape in 2002 when the State Division of Public Health and the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors undertook an initiative to develop a mandatory, standards-based system for accrediting local public health departments throughout the state.
Until now, there has been no accreditation for local health departments in North Carolina. That meant that different health departments could be providing varying levels of basic services with no set standard. The accreditation program, administered by the North Carolina Institute for Public Health and mandated by the state legislature, will ensure departments all across the state will provide the same basic services such as community assessment, infectious disease surveillance, environmental health and health promotion.
Mecklenburg County is currently undergoing this accreditation process. It focuses on a single set of minimal standards and involves three major components:
- An agency self-assessment. Our Health Department will provide the state with a snapshot of its work, from an inside perspective. This information is due to be delivered to the state board by April 17.
- A site visit by a group of peer volunteers who will review documentation, tour our facilities, and talk directly with staff and customers. This will take place May 24-26th.
- Determination of accreditation by an Independent Accrediting Board will occur sometime in late June.
“This is a good opportunity for us to learn more about our strengths and weaknesses with an eye towards improvement,” said Dr. Wynn Mabry. “This valuable experience will help us deliver in a more efficient manner the ten essential services we are charged to provide.”
Currently, there are only ten departments from across the state that have met the new standards and been accredited. Gaston County joins Mecklenburg in the next group of ten that could receive their accreditations in fiscal year 2006.
