Youngstown City Health District earns national accreditation

The Youngstown City Health District has been nationally accredited through the Public Health Accreditation Board, the health district announced Friday in a news release.

The board was established in 2007 to set standards for the nation’s governmental public health departments and continuously improve the quality of their services and performance, the release states. It has also been supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We hope this announcement, coming as it does in the midst of our rapidly unfolding public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will reassure our community, our partner organizations, our funders and our elected officials that the services we provide are as responsive as possible to the needs of our community,” Erin Bishop, the city’s health commissioner, is quoted in the release. “We are so pleased to be recognized by PHAB for achieving national standards that foster effectiveness and promote continuous quality improvement.”

More than 80% of the U.S. population earn the benefits of being served by a health department that is nationally accredited to meet a set of quality standards and measures, according to the release.

Public health departments promote healthy behaviors, prevent diseases and injuries, ensure access to safe food, water, clean air and life-saving immunizations and respond to public health emergencies, the release states.

“Just going through the accreditation process itself helps health departments pinpoint the areas that are critical to improving the work they do for their communities,” Paul Kuehnert, the Public Health Accreditation Board president and CEO, is quoted in the release.