Accreditation
What is PHAB accreditation?
PHAB, the Public Health Accreditation Board, oversees accrediting health departments nationwide. This accreditation is available to state, local, tribal, and district health departments like Three Rivers.
Specifically, accreditation verifies we have met a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused, and evidence-based standards published by PHAB.
In February 2013, PHAB announced the first 11 Health Departments in the nation to receive National Accreditation; we were one of the 11. Subsequently, we were awarded Re-Accreditation in 2019 for another five years.
Why is it important?
PHAB accreditation ensures your local health department is focused on the 10 Essential Public Health Services and is maintaining an informed, educated, and competent public health workforce for your benefit. A critical aspect of the 10 essential services includes assessments. You can view some of the detailed evaluations we have performed here.
Watch this short video to learn why accreditation is important to you!
What is the benefit?
The benefit of PHAB accreditation includes promoting a quality and performance improvement culture that helps us better serve our communities. It also increases our ability to respond to public health emergencies and threats and encourages the use of health equity to identify health disparities.
Additionally, accreditation strengthens our partnerships with community businesses, healthcare, and governmental agencies, to provide widespread focused solutions for existing health problems.
To learn more about the benefits of accreditation, look at the graphic “The Value of PHAB Accreditation.”