County of San Diego Achieves National Public Health Accreditation

The County of San Diego achieved national accreditation for public health services from the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) on May 17, 2016. The recognition signifies that the County has demonstrated that it meets national standards in providing essential public health services—which include investigating public health problems; informing and educating the public about public health issues; enforcing public health laws and regulations; and preparing for and responding to public health threats, emergencies, and disasters.

What Was Involved?

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To become accredited, the County of San Diego successfully underwent a rigorous review of over 1,100 documents to demonstrate conformance to 100 standards, and received high marks from reviewers after a two-day site visit on February 22 and 23, 2016. Teams of County staff, community partners, and County of San Diego Board of Supervisors Chairman Ron Roberts were interviewed about how the County puts policies into practice. The site visit included a tour of the Rosecrans Health Services Complex, including the public health laboratory and other parts of the facility. PHAB’s standards address the full array of public health functions set forth in the 10 Essential Public Health Services, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as two (2) additional standards related to administrative capacity and governance.

Why is this Important?

Launched in 2011, national public health accreditation is a relatively new accreditation process for State, tribal, local and territorial jurisdictions. It was developed out of recognition of the importance of a strong infrastructure to address public health challenges that the nation faces today. These challenges include combating the epidemic of chronic disease, protecting the public from emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, responding to emergencies in a time when terrorism and climate change are factors, and advancing health equity across a diverse population.

County of San Diego Accreditation by the Numbers

PHAB Standards and Measures
  • County of San Diego joins over 100 State, local, tribal and territorial jurisdictions that have achieved accreditation.
  • The County of San Diego is one of the first counties to receive accreditation designation from PHAB’s expanded standards and measures, adopted in June 2014.
  • The County of San Diego is one of six California accredited health departments (i.e., City of Long Beach, Orange County, Santa Clara County, Ventura County, and the State of California).
  • See the press release from PHAB announcing the 17 newly accredited state and local health departments.

For More Information

Public Health Accreditation Presentation

See the powerpoint for the background and San Diego County’s journey to achieve Accreditation.

See the PHAB website for more details on the benefits, standards, process, and research: http://www.phaboard.org/.

Contact the Accreditation Coordinator at (619) 531-5800 for further inquiries about the County’s national public health accreditation process.

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