Florence County Health Department recently received accreditation status through the Public Health Accreditation Board. From left are staff members Alisha Krenzhe, Annette Seibold, Ally Kalkofen, Amanda Hawkins and Amber Kolberg. Not shown is Jennifer Vaclav.

FLORENCE, Wis. — The Florence County Health Department has successfully completed a review process to maintain national accreditation status through the Public Health Accreditation Board, or PHAB.

In maintaining its accreditation status for another five years, the health department has demonstrated it meets PHAB’s quality standards and measures and has the capacity to evolve, improve and advance to continue improving the health of Florence County residents.

The non-profit PHAB works to advance and transform public health practice by championing performance improvement, strong infrastructure and innovation. PHAB’s accreditation program, which receives support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sets standards against which the nation’s governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance.

The department achieved national initial accreditation status through PHAB after undergoing a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment process to ensure it met a set of quality standards and measures.

Today’s announcement goes a step further by demonstrating the health department has the capacity to become increasingly effective at improving the health of the community.

Often called the “backbone” of the public health system, public health departments are on the front lines of communities’ efforts to protect and promote health and prevent disease and injury. PHAB-accredited health departments demonstrate great leadership by placing their work for peer review, with the goal of using the feedback obtained during the process to improve the services they provide to their communities.

“We are so pleased to again be recognized by PHAB for achieving national standards that foster effectiveness and promote continuous quality improvement,” said Annette Seibold, health department director. “We hope this announcement will reassure our community, partner organizations, funders and elected officials that the services we provide are as responsive as possible to the needs of our community”.

The department works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florence County. Learn more about the services on the website, Facebook or Instagram.

The Florence County Health Department can be reached at 715-528-4837, and is in the courthouse at 501 Lake Ave. in Florence. The department is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.