TY - JOUR T1 - Q&A with Oklahoma Health Commissioner Terry Cline on benefits of working toward accreditation: ‘We are all enriched by the journey, not simply the...destination’ JF - The Nation's Health JO - Nations Health SP - 11 LP - 11 VL - 44 IS - 3 AU - Kim Krisberg Y1 - 2014/04/01 UR - http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/44/3/11.abstract N2 - In 2013, the Oklahoma State Department of Health was among the first 11 health departments in the country — and one of the first two state health departments — to achieve public health accreditation. Awarded by the Public Health Accreditation Board, accreditation requires a rigorous review and assessment of a health department’s capacity to deliver quality public health services and assure core public health functions. The process helps a health department pinpoint its strengths and weaknesses and often helps agencies streamline their work and increase efficiency. Almost two dozen health departments have now achieved accreditation. As of February, nearly every state in the country had at least one health department working toward accreditation.Oklahoma Health Commissioner Terry Cline, PhD, a former administrator of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, led the state department during accreditation. ER -