Kent County Health Department: Using an Agency Strategic Plan to Drive Improvement

J Public Health Manag Pract. 2018 May/Jun:24 Suppl 3:S95-S97. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000698.

Abstract

The Kent County Health Department (KCHD) was accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) in September 2014. Although Michigan has had a state-level accreditation process for local health departments since the late 1990s, the PHAB accreditation process presented a unique opportunity for KCHD to build on successes achieved through state accreditation and enhance performance in all areas of KCHD programs, services, and operations. PHAB's standards, measures, and peer-review process provided a standardized and structured way to identify meaningful opportunities for improvement and to plan and implement strategies for enhanced performance and established a platform for being recognized nationally as a high-performing local health department. The current case report highlights the way in which KCHD has developed and implemented its strategic plan to guide efforts aimed at addressing gaps identified through the accreditation process and to drive overall improvement within our agency.

MeSH terms

  • Accreditation / trends
  • Humans
  • Local Government*
  • Michigan
  • Public Health / methods*
  • Public Health / trends
  • Strategic Planning*