Accredited health departments demonstrate their commitment to transparency, health equity, and quality improvement.

May 29, 2024—Alexandria, VA—Today, the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) announced 12 public health departments that have achieved accreditation or reaccreditation status after completing a comprehensive review process against national standards. These health departments have demonstrated their commitment to excellence and continuous improvement, leading to their accreditation for the next five years.

PHAB is the sole national accrediting body for state, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments in the U.S. Its mission is to advance and transform public health practice by championing performance improvement, strong infrastructure, and innovation. PHAB accreditation is regarded as the most prestigious form of accreditation.

“We celebrate and recognize these health departments’ hard work and commitment to excellence and improving the health and well-being of the communities they serve,” said PHAB President and CEO Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, FAAN. “Accreditation is more than a seal. It ensures that health departments have the necessary tools, resources, and infrastructure to provide high-quality services to their communities.”

PHAB accreditation is vital in strengthening health departments’ infrastructure and workforce development, ensuring they have the necessary systems to deliver high-quality public health services efficiently. PHAB accreditation measures a health department’s performance against nationally recognized and evidence-based standards. It serves as a catalyst for continuous quality and performance improvement, fostering partnerships and collaboration and improving accountability.

“We are excited to be recognized for achieving these national standards for high performance,” said Dr. Ying-Ying Goh, Director and Health Officer of the Pasadena Public Health Department. “With reaccreditation, the Pasadena Public Health Department is demonstrating once again our commitment to delivering programs and services that are as responsive as possible to the needs of our community, and to being accountable to the public, funders, elected officials and partner organizations with which we work to achieve our mission to protect and promote health for all.”

“I’m very proud of our team for this achievement. Accreditation of our public health program is a critical validation that we have the tools we need to achieve our strategic goal of becoming the healthiest state in the nation by 2040,” said Patrick Allen, Secretary, New Mexico Department of Health.

The newly accredited health departments join a growing network of over 400 health departments that have achieved this recognition.