BUCYRUS – Crawford County Public Health recently announced it was awarded national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Established in 2007, PHAB is the nonprofit organization that administers the national accreditation program, which aims to advance and transform public health practice by championing performance improvement, strong infrastructure, and innovation.
To receive initial accreditation through PHAB, a health department must undergo a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment process to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of public health quality standards and measures. Crawford County Public Health has been working on this process for the last several years, even during COVID-19 response surges.
“We are extremely excited to learn that our health department has met the standards as set forth by PHAB to be awarded the honor of national accreditation,” said Health Commissioner Kate Siefert. “National accreditation proves that Crawford County Public Health and its community partners are dedicated to improving the health of our community. We hope this announcement, combined with our recent efforts and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reassures our community, our partner organizations, our funders and our elected officials that we are meeting the public health needs of those we serve as effectively as possible.”
The national accreditation program, which receives support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nation’s governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance.
“The value of becoming nationally accredited through PHAB extends far beyond the interior walls of the health department,” said PHAB President and CEO Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, FAAN. “People living and working in communities served by these health departments can be assured that their health department is strong and has the capacity to protect and promote their health. Just going through the accreditation process itself helps health departments pinpoint the areas that are critical to improving the work they do for their communities.”
Crawford County Public Health is located at 1520 Isaac Beal Rd., Bucyrus, OH. A wide range of services are provided that include immunizations, communicable disease investigation, restaurant and retail grocery store inspections, Women Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program, Help Me Grow (HMG) Program, issuance of certified birth and death certificates, emergency preparedness planning, health education and more. For more information on the Crawford County Public Health programs and services, visit their website at www.crawfordhealth.org and be sure to follow Crawford County Public Health on Facebook for up-to-date information.
2. Crawford County Public Health staff picture
3. Crawford County Board of Health members (left to right – Scott Woodworth, Sis Love, Zach Wolfe, Dr. Stephen Novac
