Moving toward accreditation: A local health department's success with strategic planning supported by a phtc

Public health departments are striving to achieve national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Accreditation systematically strengthens and standardizes public health infrastructure nationwide. Despite constrained resources, public health leaders are prioritizing development of the three pre-requisite documents for application: community health assessment (Standard 5.1), community health improvement plan (Standard 5.2), and strategic plan (Standard 5.3). HRSA's thirty-seven public health training centers (PHTC) play a critical role in supporting health departments' accreditation efforts. This presentation illustrates the relationship between a local health department and a PHTC that led to the development of a functional and useful strategic plan. Putnam County Department of Health (PCDOH), a small health department of 62 staff in New York, partnered with New York City-Long Island-Lower Tri-County Public Health Training Center (NYC-LI-LTC PHTC) in September 2011. NYC-LI-LTC PHTC provides competency-based training to public health workers. In March 2012, PCDOH decided to pursue accreditation. The Accreditation Team then conducted an organizational self-assessment which revealed that assistance was necessary to develop a strategic plan. To aid PCDOH, NYC-LI-LTC PHTC hired a consultant with extensive experience providing training on the strategic planning process. With consultant facilitation, the planning process (Measure 5.3.1A) followed a 6-step framework over 5 months culminating with a complete strategic plan. With this document, PCDOH is closer to readiness to submit an application by January 2014. Moreover, the planning process training entailed consideration of next steps and potential challenges, better preparing PCDOH's Accreditation Team to lead strategic plan adoption (Measure 5.3.2A) and implementation (Measure 5.3.3A).