Source: Post Eagle
The Clifton Health Department (CHD) has been awarded initial National Accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB).
The accreditation process through the PHAB helps to ensure that the programs and services we provide are as responsive as possible to the needs of our community. Accreditation strengthens infrastructure and workforce development, ensuring health departments have the necessary systems in place to efficiently deliver high-quality public health services.
Accreditation serves as a catalyst for continuous development and improvement, enhancing emergency preparedness efforts, and fostering quality and performance improvement. CHD is dedicated to their accreditation efforts and have been working rigorously towards accreditation since 2015. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CHD’s accreditation efforts slowed down but never wavered.
In September 2022, the health department submitted all of its required documentation to the PHAB and a year later underwent its required site visit from the PHAB. The health department awaited board review following the site visit. A special thanks to our Mayor and Council, City Manager, Clifton Board of Health, and to all the community organizations that participated in our site visit.
The Clifton Health Department is the sixth local health department in the State of New Jersey and the first health department in Passaic County to be accredited. By achieving accreditation, CHD demonstrates a commitment towards the health of the public.
According to John Biegel, Health Officer at CHD, “To achieve national Public Health Accreditation is a tremendous accomplishment for the Clifton Health Department.
“This is not only a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire Clifton Health Department staff, but also our Clifton City Administration, our Clifton Governing Body, the Clifton Board of Health, and the myriad community partnerships we have developed.
“We embarked on this voluntary process in order to hold our staff to the highest possible standards for public health practice, and I am most of all excited for the residents of Clifton who will benefit the most from the Health Department’s enhanced culture of transparency, staff development, and quality improvement.”