Leadership, Management and Workforce Development
Sharing Session - 90 Minutes
Georgia Heise, DrPH
District Health Department Director
Three Rivers Public Health District
Rex Archer, MD, MPH
Director of Health
Kansas City, Missouri Health Department
Jessica Kronstadt, MPP
Director of Research and Evaluation
Public Health Accreditation Board
Leading a health department can be difficult work in today’s public health environment. Health department leaders need all the tools they can muster to be effective in improving the health of their communities. Balancing attention to health equity; public and private partnerships; reducing silos inside the health department and among external partners; foundational public health capabilities; chief health strategies; and other contemporary issues can be overwhelming. As reaccreditation of health departments becomes a reality, it is essential for health departments to be strategic about their use of the reaccreditation opportunity to move their health departments in a strong, highly visible and transformative manner.
Two strong public health leaders will describe their approach to reaccreditation in a highly interactive session on how health department leaders can view the accreditation process as a tool for ensuring that their health departments are strong and ready for the public health challenges ahead. From the changing public health landscape to the identification and engagement of new partners to improving the visibility of the health department in their communities, these leaders will discuss their challenges and opportunities in this work. Both will discuss the role that public and private partners play in supporting health department accreditation as it moves from demonstrating capacity of the health department to the current focus on cross-sectoral leadership and impact. The audience will be engaged in an interactive response session to get expert advice from two health department leaders, as well as incentives to engage in peer-to-peer learning.