PHAB Board Holds Quarterly Meeting in June

The PHAB Board of Directors welcomed two new members during its quarterly meeting June 20-21 in Alexandria, Virginia. Celeste Philip, MD, MPH, Florida Surgeon General and Secretary of the Florida Department of Health, and Claude-Alix Jacob, MPH, Chief Public Health Officer for the Cambridge Public Health Department in Massachusetts, each began three-year terms on June 1. 

   

Dr. Philip has served as Florida's Surgeon General and as Secretary of the Florida Department of

Dr. Philip

Health since May 18, 2016. Most recently, she served as the interim Florida Surgeon General and prior to that as Florida's Deputy Secretary for Health and Deputy State Health Officer for Children's Medical Services. Board certified in family medicine as well as preventive medicine and public health, she brings a wealth of academic excellence and professional experience to her roles. She has served as interim director for three county health departments, and as interim bureau chief for the Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Communicable Diseases. She began her career with the Florida department in Polk County, Florida, where she served as medical director and served on the board of the Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine, through which she provided primary care to uninsured patients. Dr. Philip's contributions to public health are not limited to Florida. She is president of the American Heart Association's six-state Greater Southeast Affiliate, and previously served at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer and preventive medicine resident.

 

Dr. Philip holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from Loma Linda University in California. She completed her residency at Florida Hospital in Orlando and has remained committed to improving health in Florida throughout her career.

 

Mr. Jacob has 18 years of experience in public health and has overseen operations of the Cambridge (Mass.) Public Health Department since 2007. Serving a population of 106,000

	Mr. Jacob

residents and hundreds of businesses, the Cambridge Public Health Department is operated by a regional safety net health care system through a contract with the city. During Mr. Jacob's tenure as the city's Chief Public Health Officer, he has overseen federally funded initiatives for addressing health disparities among men of color and reducing obesity in children and adults. A proponent of cross-jurisdictional sharing of resources, Mr. Jacob and his department lead a regional coalition to strengthen emergency response in 27 communities and participate in regional initiatives around tobacco use, opioid abuse, and childhood lead poisoning.

 

Mr. Jacob is the current President of the National Association of County and City Health Officials and serves on the Board of Directors of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. He is the past national chair of the Black Caucus of Health Workers of the American Public Health Association. Mr. Jacob received training at the National Public Health Leadership Institute and completed the W.K. Kellogg Fellowship for Emerging Leadership in Public Health. Mr. Jacob holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.

• Approval of an updated accreditation system logic model
• Approval of an updated accreditation research agenda
• Approval of the concepts associated with the development of a Tribal Accreditation Documentation Guidance Supplement. PHAB has been working with the National Indian Health Board's (NIHB) Tribal Public Health Accreditation Advisory Board to better understand some of the questions and issues associated with providing documentation for accreditation review. The result of that work will be a supplemental documentation guide for Tribal health departments to use alongside Version 1.5 of the Accreditation Standards and Measures to assist them in their development and selection of Tribal-specific documentation for review in the accreditation process. Tribal health departments interested in this document should stay tuned to both the NIHB website and the PHAB website later in the summer for the final document.

  

Dr. F. Douglas Scutchfield Accepts Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement

  

Dr. Wilma Wooten Provides Plenary Address to the Association of Public Health Nurses

PHAB NEWS, NOTES & UPDATES 

Eleven More Health Departments Accredited in June

PHAB's national program to improve and protect the health of the public continued its nationwide expansion in June as 11 more governmental public health departments - three state and eight local -- achieved five-year accreditation status. The decisions bring another 19.7 million people into the rapidly growing network of communities served by health departments that meet rigorous national standards for delivering quality programs and services.

  

Launched in 2011 with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PHAB's accreditation program has quickly grown to bring the benefits of national accreditation to 198 million people, or 64 percent of the U.S. population.

  

National accreditation status was awarded June 6, 2017 to:

Read the full press release here.

Connecticut Department of Public Health staff gathered in Hartford for a group photo on June 8, 2017. The health department was awarded PHAB accreditation on March 14, 2017.

 

Devoting a Day to Documentation in New Jersey

PHAB Education Specialist David Stone leads a discussion about documentation at a New Jersey Documentation Workshop on June 27, 2017.

 

  

PHAB Participates in COPPHI Open Forum in New Orleans
PHAB staff joined scores of public health colleagues in New Orleans in April for the 14th Community of Practice for Public Health Improvement (COPPHI) Open Forum for Quality Improvement in Public Health. The April 20-21 event featured a pre-conference workshop led by PHAB Education Specialist David Stone and PHAB Accreditation Specialist April Harris. PHAB President and CEO Kaye Bender led an interactive session on public health innovation, highlighting the work of the Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI) and its role in informing accreditation for the future. April Harris also facilitated a discussion with accredited health departments on the services that PHAB provides to them after becoming accredited. PHAB will use that information to inform our package of accreditation services for the future.

  

PHAB Accreditation Specialist April Harris joins PHAB Education Specialist David Stone at a pre-conference workshop at the start of the 14th COPPHI Open Forum in New Orleans in April.

  

PHAB Participates in National Indian Health Board Tribal Public Health Summit

PHAB President and CEO Kaye Bender, PHAB Board of Directors Vice Chair Joe Finkbonner, and PHAB Education Specialist David Stone traveled to Anchorage, Alaska, in June to participate in the National Indian Health Board Tribal Public Health Summit. In a pre-conference institute, PHAB provided information on documentation for accreditation and discussed plans for the Tribal Accreditation Documentation Guidance Supplement. Feedback gathered during the session will be used to finalize the document. In addition, staff was on hand at PHAB's booth in the exhibit hall to unveil PHAB's new Tribal public health department accreditation banner and share information with conference-goers. More than 75 attendees entered a raffle for a PHAB tote bag filled with accreditation materials and goodies. Ross Nannauck III from the Tlingit Tribe in Alaska was the grateful winner of the tote bag raffle.

  

PHAB's Kaye Bender presents a tote bag filled with PHAB goodies to raffle winner Ross Nannauck III from Alaska's Tlingit Tribe, at the National Indian Health Board's Tribal Public Health Summit in Anchorage, Alaska, in June.

  

Vital Records/Health Statistics Accreditation Module Moves Forward

PHAB continues to partner with the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS), and CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), to develop, test and launch an accreditation module for statewide vital records and health statistics functions. Over the next year and with funding from NCHS, a beta test will be conducted on the draft standards and measures and the process. Continue to watch PHAB's newsletter for status reports on the progress of this work.

  

  

Training Events Highlight PHAB Calendar

At PHAB's Alexandria, Virginia, Learning Center, meetings and training events are a frequent occurence. In May, 24 new Accreditation Coordinators came to the center to complete PHAB's two-day learning event. In addition, 18 public health professionals gathered at PHAB's Learning Center April 25-26 for a two-day Site Visitor Learning Event.

  

Site Visitors dive into a practice exercise at an April 26, 2017 training event. Site Visitors play a critical role in PHAB's accreditation process by reviewing health department documentation, visiting health departments, and writing the Site Visit Report on which the Accreditation Committee bases its decisions.

JPHMP Direct Highlights the Work of PHAB and PHNCI

JPHMP Direct, the multimedia companion site of the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, continues to partner with PHAB to engage a deeper conversation with public health thought leaders, researchers, practitioners, students and other readers. Since October 2016, PHAB and PHNCI staff and Board members have contributed nine original blogs to JPHMP Direct's "Focus on Accreditation and Innovation" section. This month's contribution, co-authored by PHAB Board of Directors members F. Douglas Scutchfield, MD; Wilma J. Wooten, MD, MPH, and PHAB Chief Program Officer Robin Wilcox, MPA, is titled "Reflections of the Accreditation Committee" and can be read here. Looking ahead to July, PHAB Board Member and Immediate Past Chair Leslie Beitsch, MD, JD, will take a fresh look at what's needed to launch a performance management system.

PHNCI Unveils New Blog

The Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI), at PHAB, is pleased to announce the launch of its new blog, The Spark: Ideas in Innovation. This month marks the first blog post, and PHNCI invites readers to tune in each month as PHNCI and its partners post commentary, stories, and resources to stimulate thinking and advance innovative practice in governmental public health. Interested in writing your own post? Don't hold back! Join in by submitting your own post!
Click here for more details and to read the first post.

CDC's "Did You Know?" to Focus on Accreditation

Stay tuned: In July, CDC will highlight PHAB accreditation in its weekly Did You Know? feature. The topic is scheduled to go live on July 14 at www.cdc.gov/stltpublichealth/didyouknow. Did You Know? provides timely information and data from CDC and its partners. It is emailed to more than 40,000 people and is syndicated on 81 partner websites. To subscribe to weekly Did You Know? emails, click here.

  

  

Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Appoints New President/CEO

PHAB congratulates Dr. Laura Magaña Valladares, PhD, on her new role as President and CEO of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). ASPPH is a strong partner with PHAB as we both work to strengthen the linkages between academia and practice. PHAB looks forward to working with Dr. Magaña Valladares in her new role, which becomes effective on August 1. ASPPH is the voice of accredited academic public health, representing schools and programs accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

PHAB Staff Participate in Staff Development and Training

To better serve our applicants, our volunteers, and our partners, PHAB staff periodically take some time out for staff development and training. Over the past few months, we have been working with Olivia Martin, CPC, ELI-MP, from LivMor Consulting, to improve organizational performance by using the Birkman assessment tools to better understand ourselves and others in our various working relationships and settings. At a session on May 23, 2017, Ms. Martin provided consultation to PHAB staff individually and as a group to further refine our skills, and also introduced the concepts of energy leadership.

  

Olivia Martin from LivMor Consulting leads PHAB staff through a mission statement writing exercise on May 23, 2017.

  

Nicole Pettenati to Join PHAB in September

Ms. Pettenati

PHAB is pleased to announce that Nicole Pettenati, MSLS, will officially join the PHAB staff as a Research Analyst when her one-year Library/Information Science Fellowship through the Learning Partnership Program of the Grace and Harold Sewell Memorial Fund ends in September.

Since coming to PHAB, Nicole has been helping to implement a plan to track the evidence related to the PHAB Standards and Measures, which will help inform future revisions. In addition, she provides support to the Public Health National Center for Innovations at PHAB. Nicole previously worked at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and was a National Library of Medicine Associate Fellow. She received her Master of Science in Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Bachelor of Arts degree at Youngstown State University in Ohio. Nicole has been an asset to PHAB's Research & Evaluation work and the PHNCI team, and we are happy to keep her in the PHAB family!

  

 3. Who at PHAB may we contact for specific questions and technical assistance?

You may contact:
 
Mark Paepcke, Chief Administrative Officer, to talk about fees and contractual information, or e-PHAB. He may be reached at  [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 104.

Robin Wilcox, Chief Program Officer, to talk about interpretation and meaning of the PHAB Standards and Measures as well as the accreditation process. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 106.

Marita Chilton, Triona Gateley, Jennifer Jimenez, or Brittan Williams, to talk about the accreditation process for health departments. Marita may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 114; Triona may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 124; Jennifer may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 107; and Brittan at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 115.

April Harris, to talk with accredited health departments about maintaining accreditation and to assist accredited health departments as they prepare for reaccreditation. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext.125.

Catrina Kerrison, to talk about general office inquiries and questions related to PHAB's governance. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 100.

Jeff Lake, Volunteer Services Manager, to talk about the recruitment, selection, and assignment of Site Visitors and Teams as well as PHAB's Accreditation Reserve Corps. He may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 110.

David Stone, Accreditation Education Specialist, to talk about PHAB's education services, including orientations and trainings. He may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 105.

Genny Lush, Program Specialist, to talk about statements of intent, applications, and accreditation process issues. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549 ext. 113.

Jessica Kronstadt, Director of Research and Evaluation, to talk about public health accreditation-related research and evaluation. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 117.

Teddi Nicolaus, Communications Manager, to talk about news, media requests, marketing, and promotions. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 118.
 
Jessica Solomon Fisher, Chief Innovations Officer, Public Health National Center for Innovations at the Public Health Accreditation Board, to talk about all matters related to the new Center. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 116.
 
Kaye Bender, President/CEO, to talk about accreditation-related strategies, partnerships, long-range planning at PHAB, PHAB Board of Directors, committees/think tanks, and student opportunities. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 103.

If you have a question for a future segment of Word on the Street, please send it to PHAB e-newsletter editor Teddi Nicolaus.