CARTERET COUNTY, NC (November 21, 2022) – The Carteret County Health Department (CCHD) has successfully completed a review process to maintain state accreditation and has achieved honors designation through the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation (NCLHDA) Board.
“We are honored to achieve accreditation with honors that push us to cultivate continual quality improvement,” said County Health Director Nina Oliver. “The recognition by the state’s accrediting board is a well-deserved acknowledgement of the quality and dedication of our staff and Board who work so hard each day to protect the health and wellness of everyone who lives in or visits Carteret County.”
During the accreditation process, the NCLHDA focuses on three major components – a self-assessment completed by the agency, a site visit by a multidisciplinary team of peers to review performance standards, and determination of accreditation status by an independent Accreditation Board comprised of state and local public health officials and Board of Health members.
Accreditation with honors designation was implemented to recognize agencies that especially excelled in their accreditation assessment by missing one or less activities within each of five standards set by the NCLHDA program. CCHD met the standards in 146 of 147 activities. With successful completion, the health department’s accreditation with honors period is 2022-2026.
“Accreditation is a robust process, as established by North Carolina law, which requires an extensive review of many metrics and analysis of the day-to-day care that we provide our citizens,” said interim Consolidated Health and Human Services Director Randall Williams, M.D. “Accreditation with honors from the NCLHDA is an outstanding accomplishment, particularly given the challenges of the last three years. This is a testament to our staff and also our consolidated human service board members who graciously share with us their subject matter expertise and guidance, and foster a culture of quality, professionalism, and service that is evident throughout the agency.”
The accreditation board was developed in 2002 by the state Division of Public Health and the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors to develop a standardized system for accrediting local North Carolina health departments based on the capacity of the departments to perform the essential public health services and the three core functions of assessment, assurance, and policy development. North Carolina is the first state in the country to mandate accreditation for its local health departments. Since the accreditation program began, all 85 health departments have been accredited and reaccredited at least twice.
Health officials attended the Accreditation Board meeting on November 18, 2022 in Raleigh, N.C. and formally accepted the reaccreditation with honors achievement.
###
