New Releases 
Accreditation Baby on the Way!
In other exciting updates, Margaret is expecting a baby this July! Fortunately, David Stone, who has been working with NCLHDA for the past two years as our Phase 3 Coordinator, and who himself served as our Accreditation Administrator from 2008-2011, will step in to serve as Interim Administrator while she takes leave when baby arrives. Program staff members, Faith Van Buskirk Feldt and Sarah Salzmann, will continue coordinating accreditation logistics, all with fabulous leadership and support from our NCIPH Director Amy Joy Lanou! We are grateful for the strong and growing team here at NCIPH to support this program.
Recap of the Future of Accreditation Retreat
In early March we brought together NCLHDA Board Members, Standard Workgroup Members, Health Director Accreditation Working Group Members, and AAC Advisory Council Representatives to move forward the conversation around transforming accreditation requirements. The discussion was lively, productive, and hopeful! Program staff are in the process of summarizing the outcomes of the retreat, and we look forward to sharing with you soon.
Accreditation in Action
Winter Site Visits have Wrapped Up!
We finished the winter site visit season last week, and our site visit teams have come back with many helpful best practices and suggestions for quality improvements to share! We will continue to highlight best practices in these monthly highlights in months to come. Congratulations to all agencies who have recently completed a site visit. We look forward to celebrating this cycle’s successes at our upcoming May adjudication meeting!
Register for Bi-Annual Trainings Today!
As announced at the Annual Update Webinar, this Spring we are offering our Accreditation 101 Training (April 23) and NCLHDA Dashboard Webinar (April 25) both in a virtual format to allow for greater participation across the state, as we know some of you have not been able to make the recent in-person events. We are glad that we can alternate our training formats between in-person and virtual options so that we can best meet everyone’s needs, and we look forward to seeing you in-person at the many fabulous NC Public Health events already taking place this spring!
Helpful Resources
Advancing Equity Through Communication: Online Workshop, April 11 or April 25
Make the case for equity! Learn how to bridge communication gaps for effective program and policy development. Topics covered will include cognitive biases in public health, storytelling for outreach and advocacy, what it means to really apply an “equity lens,” messaging frameworks, and the connections between public narratives and building community power.
Key Dates
Wednesday, April 10: Office Hours, 9:00-9:45 am
Virtual. There is no cost to attend; however, registration is required. Register.
Tuesday, April 23: Accreditation 101: New AAC Training, 1:00-5:00 pm
Virtual. There is no cost to attend; however, registration is required. Register.
Thursday, April 25: Bi–Annual NCLHDA Dashboard Overview Webinar, 1:00-3:00 pm
Virtual. There is no cost to attend; however, registration is required. Register.
Wednesday, May 1: Office Hours, 9:00-9:45 am
Virtual. There is no cost to attend; however, registration is required. Register.
Friday, May 17: November Board Adjudication Meeting, 9:30 am-1:30 pm
Hybrid with options to join in Raleigh, NC and via Zoom. This is an open meeting. Additional details will be posted within 2 weeks of the board meeting.
Interested in exploring all upcoming events? Check out our Calendar page online!
Stories from the Field
Best Practices from Fall 2023: Policy Development Standard
Within the Policy Development standard (Benchmarks 9-15) our site visit team identified many best practices to highlight in Fall 2023. Today, we’re highlighting two great examples:
Activity 13.1, Granville Vance District: The site visit team has identified the Environmental Health On-site Installer’s Course as a best practice. Granville-Vance Environmental Health has been offering this course for 15 years and it is operated fully on donations. Other counties have also modeled similar courses in their county after the Granville-Vance course. The course broadens existing partnerships with septic system installers by cultivating innovative and new community contacts. Through the course the environmental health staff increases the awareness of public health through outreach and training.
Activity 13.1, Lenoir County: The Site Visit Team identified the Lenoir County Health Department’s (LCHD) use of the CHA process to broaden partnerships as a best practice. LCHD conducts the CHA on a 3-year cycle in conjunction with UNC Lenoir Health Care and Kinston Community Health Center. The community identified obesity as a priority and increasing physical activity among youth as a strategy to address. The LCHD partnered with the Boys and Girls Club to offer a Zumba Kids Program that offered 22 sessions with an average of 21 children/session and 8 staff members. Plans are to continue this partnership and program.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
All of you across the state have unique approaches where you have found success. To help us all learn, we love when you share your tips and tricks for accreditation success with us! If you have a tip or trick that you would like to share, send a summary to NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu. Stories will be shared via these monthly highlights.