The Mississippi State Department of Health has successfully completed a review process to maintain national accreditation status through the national Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). In maintaining its accreditation status for another five years, the MSDH has demonstrated that it meets PHAB’s quality standards and measures and has the capacity to continue to evolve, improve and advance good health for the residents of Mississippi.

“I am so proud for the team that helped make this re-accreditation possible. They worked tirelessly to ensure we achieved the high standards required for this prestigious recognition,” said Dr. Dan Edney, MSDH Executive Director and State Health Officer. “This honor reflects the outstanding work being done by all of our staff around the state. We continue to find ways to raise the bar to provide the best services possible to every Mississippian and we hope this announcement will reassure the public, our partner organizations, funders and elected officials that they are in good hands.”

The MSDH achieved its initial national accreditation status through PHAB in 2017 after undergoing a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment process to ensure it met a set of quality standards and measures. The re-accreditation goes a step further by demonstrating that MSDH has the structure in place to become increasingly effective at improving the health of the community. Mississippi is one of 42 states to achieve PHAB accreditation to-date.

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 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.