Title
Health and Human Services Agency recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Provide conceptual approval for the Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Division, to pursue an application to the Public Health Accreditation Board for national public health department accreditation;
2) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign a letter supporting the Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Division's pursuit of national public health department accreditation;
3) Authorize the Director of the Health and Human Services Agency, or designee, to sign any documents associated with the public health department accreditation pre-application process; and
4) Instruct the Director of the Health and Human Services Agency to return to the Board for approval prior to authorizing any expenditures associated with the Public Health Accreditation process, including payment of the application fee.
FUNDING: Public Health Fund Balance.
Body
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost
There is no Net County Cost associated with approval of the application fee or the letter of support. The application fee, totaling approximately $27,000, will be budgeted in future years as the Agency anticipates submitting the application for accreditation during FY 2016-17. At this time HHSA plans to use existing Public Health fund balance to pay the application fee.
Background
National public health accreditation is defined as the development of standards, a process to measure health department performance against those standards, and recognition for those departments that meet the standard. Public health department accreditation standards address a range of core public health programs and activities including health education, health promotion, community health, chronic disease prevention and control, communicable disease, injury prevention, environmental health, maternal and child health, public health emergency preparedness, access to clinical services, public health laboratory services, public health administration and governance.
Accreditation is achieved through a process overseen by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a nonprofit organization, with the goal of advancing the quality and performance of public health departments. Through the accreditation process a public health department documents the capacity to deliver the three core functions of public health (assessment, policy development, and assurance) and the ten essential public health services which provide the framework for describing public health services. Accreditation is voluntary and as of March 19, 2014, there were thirty-one accredited public health departments nationwide, including the State of California, Ventura County, and several other California counties currently in process of applying for accreditation.
There is an accreditation fee which is applicable for a five year period and based on the jurisdictional population served by the health department. The application fee for a jurisdictional population size of 100,001 to 200,000 is anticipated to be approximately $27,000 and the fee can be paid in installments over the five years of accreditation. The fee provides support from a PHAB accreditation specialist assigned to assist the health department through the application process, a subscription to the PHAB's online information system, a site visit to conduct a comprehensive review of the health department's operations, annual quality improvement guidance and support, and exclusive contribution to a growing network of accredited local health departments.
Public Health Accreditation is Project 3.6 of the Health and Human Services Agency's (HHSA) Strategic Plan. As a result of embracing the national accreditation standards, the benefits to El Dorado County will include identification of strengths and opportunities for improvement, enhanced validity and accountability of public health programs and services, increased communication and collaboration among internal and external partners, and the potential for increased access to resources such as streamlined application process for grants and funding to address infrastructure gaps identified through the accreditation process. The accreditation process includes seven steps: pre-application, application, documentation selection and submission, site visit, accreditation decision, reports, and reaccreditation. Once national accreditation is achieved it is valid for five years. Currently the reaccreditation requirements are the same as initial accreditation.
The initial accreditation process is expected to take three to five years as prerequisite documents required with submittal of the application include a Community Health Assessment, Community Health Improvement Plan, and an Agency Strategic Plan all updated within the last five years. HHSA will return with the Board to request approval to submit the application.
Approval of this recommendation does not commit the county to pursuing Public Health Accreditation and at any time the County can determine to discontinue this process and not pay the application fee.
Reason for Recommendation
Conceptual approval will allow the HHSA to move forward with the public health department accreditation process. A letter of support from the Board is a requirement in the accreditation pre-approval process. HHSA will provide the Board with periodic updates as the process of public health department accreditation progresses.
Clerk of the Board Follow Up Actions
Provide HHSA at Briw Road with two (2) originals of the letter of support signed by the Chair.
Contact
Don Ashton, M.P.A., Director