IN THIS ISSUE: Electronic Portal Launches for Evidence Submission, Register for the Annual Update Webinar, Five Health Departments Reaccredited in November, Board Member Updates and more…
New Releases
NEW RELEASES
Approval Received to Move Forward with the Electronic Portal
On November 15, the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors approved a FY20 budget proposal that allows the NCLHD Accreditation program to purchase and implement an electronic portal for evidence submission. The use of the portal will be phased in beginning with the fall 2019 site visit cycle- a description and timeline of implementation for these affected agencies will be shared by mid-December. All other agencies will gain access to the system in July/August 2019, when we will kick off training at the Annual NCLHD Accreditation Workshop in August.
Accreditation Schedule and Contact List
The contact information for all Agency Accreditation Coordinators (AACs) is now posted on the NCLHD Accreditation website. On this page, you can also find the accreditation assessment cycle for all health departments and which health departments are on the same cycle.
Annual Accreditation Update Webinar – Registration now Open!
Registration is now open for the 2019 Accreditation Update webinar. The purpose of the webinar is to share NCLHDA program updates for the coming year. This year we will be providing an update on the changes to the HDSAI, the transition from the AAC list serve to Teams and plans for rolling out the new electronic portal statewide. We encourage all health departments to have at least one staff member attend. The archived webinar will be posted on our website.
Agency Accreditation Coordinator (AAC) Listserv
Our IT department is aware of the phishing messages that have been sent through the AAC listserv. They recommend not opening the emails or attachments, but simply deleting it from your inboxes.
PLEASE NOTE: the Accreditation Program will never send invoices through the AAC listserv. The only invoices we send are for plaques and they are sent to individual health departments.
Accreditation in Action
Five Health Departments were reaccredited at the November 16 NCLHDA Board Meeting
Five health departments were awarded reaccreditation status by the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation (NCLHDA) Board on November 16: (Reaccredited with Honors designated in bold) Cherokee County Health Department, Greene County Department of Public Health, Iredell County Health Department, Johnston County Public Health Department, and Union County Human Services- Division of Public Health.
Board Members Transition off the NCLHD Accreditation Board
Five board members were recognized at the November 16 Board meeting for over 33 years of combined service. The Board members recognized at the meeting will end their terms on December 31, 2018, and new members will start their appointments on January 1, 2019.
(Not pictured are Robert Blackburn from the Cleveland County Board of Health, recognized for 12 years of service, and Chris Hoke from the N.C. Division of Public Health, recognized for two years of service.)
The minutes from the May board meeting are posted on our website.
Agency Accreditation Coordinator (AAC) Advisory Council
Thank you to all the Regional Workgroups that have sent us their representative for the AAC Advisory Council. We look forward to holding the first meeting of the advisory council in late January.
Key Dates
NCLHDA Update Webinar: January 22, 2019 from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Registration is now open. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Accreditation 101: New Agency Accreditation Training: April 25, 2019 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Lida Blalock Hall, 1801 Glendale Ave, Wilson, N.C. Registration will open in February 2019.
Tips and Tricks for Success: Stories from the Field
Greene County Department of Public Health Completes First Pilot of the Electronic Portal
Greene County Department of Public Health (GCDPH) is one of five local health departments piloting the new online system for accreditation evidence submission and tracking. GCDPH was the first local health department to pilot their site visit with the new online system October 4-5, 2018. According to Joy Brock, the Greene County Health Director and the Agency Accreditation Coordinator for the site visit, “the online system makes it easy to upload and manage documents, assign activities to staff and ensure accountability. It also makes it easier to receive questions/feedback from site visitors before the site visit. And, there is the benefit of not using flash drives and hyperlinking. Overall, the process worked very well for us.”