The Northern Kentucky Health Department has received its third consecutive national accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board, the independent agency that sets the service and performance standards for the nation’s public health departments.
NKY Health was one of the first health departments in the nation to receive PHAB accreditation in 2013, and now becomes one of the first to achieve a third accreditation.
“We are pleased to be recognized by PHAB for once again meeting their rigorous national standards, which focus on both effectiveness and continuous quality improvement,” says NKY Health District Director Jennifer Mooney, PhD, MS. “I think being accredited for the third time shows that our efforts and effectiveness have been consistent over the last 12 years. But I also like to look at this as an affirmation that we’re constantly looking for ways to do more and be better, and we’re committed to our mission of improving quality of life for the Northern Kentucky region.”
To achieve reaccreditation, NKY Health underwent an extensive, multi-faceted assessment process to show that the agency meets PHAB’s quality standards and measures. The process was centered around showcasing the agency’s work within 10 core domains, each based on one of the 10 Essential Public Health Services. Each domain had multiple subdomains, resulting in more than 100 measures that had to be completed before the review process even began. The work underwent an external, peer-reviewed examination that used practice-focused and evidence-based standards to assess if the health department had the ability to efficiently operate and effectively deliver essential public health services.
“With their third accreditation, NKY Health has demonstrated that it meets PHAB’s quality standards and measures, and has the capacity to continue to evolve, improve, and advance the health of the residents of Northern Kentucky,” says PHAB President and CEO Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, MD, MPH, FACEP. “By successfully maintaining their third five-year accreditation status, NKY Health is assuring its community that the value of accreditation is long-term—not a one-time recognition—and that continual improvement is the hallmark of a 21st century organization.”
Since its last accreditation, NKY Health has expanded its work in several innovative areas, including expanding its harm reduction efforts to include providing naloxone to any resident in Kentucky for free, promoting smoke-free ordinances in seven local municipalities, and creating a vape disposal partnership program with area schools. It is currently in the process of adding new projects, such as a Data Modernization Initiative to utilize health-related data to help make evidence-based decisions, and enhancing its hepatitis C treatment efforts. All of this is in addition to the long-standing services it continues to offer, such as health center programs, and environmental and facility inspections.
Northern Kentucky Health Department