Accountability requirements for the Local Public Health Act
Community health boards have statutory responsibility under the Local Public Health Act. There are two components to compliance: statutory requirements, and performance-related accountability requirements.
Statutory requirements
2019 performance-related accountability requirement
2020 performance-related accountabiilty requirement
Community health boards must:
- Identify local public health priorities and implement activities to address those priorities and the areas of public health responsibility;
- Submit a community health assessment and community health improvement plan (at least every five years);
- Implement a performance management process; and
- Annually report on a set of performance measures.
The Local public health assessment and planning cycle helps community health boards complete community health assessments and community health improvement plans, and Local Public Health Act annual reporting ensures community health boards can use accurate information to improve public health.
The Local Public Health Act (Minn. Stat. § 145A.131) outlines the accountability requirements for community health boards. Compliance is a requirement for community health boards accepting Local Public Health Grant funds.
Statutory requirements
Community health boards must meet all of the duties outlined in Minn. Stat. § 145A.03-04. To report that it meets these statutory requirements, a community health board will have already answered a set of questions during LPH Act annual reporting.
Specifically, the statutory requirements are:
- Meet the composition requirements specified in Minn. Stat. § 145A.03
- Hold at least two community health board meetings per year
- Have, in place, written procedures for transacting business; and keep a public record of transactions, findings, and determinations, as required by Minn. Stat. § 145A.03, subd. 5
- Employ/contract with a CHS administrator who meets the qualification requirements of Minn. Rule 4736.0110
- Employ/contract with a medical consultant in accordance with Minn. Stat. § 145A.04, subd. 2a
2019 performance-related accountability requirement
Each year, the Commissioner of Health, in consultation with SCHSAC, must select performance-related accountability requirements for community health boards. This is in addition to the statutory duties outlined in Minn. Stat. § 145A.131.
The selected requirements for 2019 are submission of the 2015-2019 local public health assessment and planning deliverables. These deliverables are:
- Organizational strategic plan*
- Plan to monitor and revise the strategic plan
- Identification of priority health issues as determined by the community health assessment
- Community health improvement plan (CHIP)*
- Plan to monitor and revise the CHIP
*Community health boards/departments accredited by December 31, 2019 are not required to submit their strategic plan or CHIP.
How to report
Local public health assessment and planning 2015-2019 deliverables provides detailed information on how to submit these deliverables.
Given the intense focus on COVID-19, deadlines for the following items are postponed indefinitely: 2019 LPH Act annual reporting (finance, staffing) and 2015-2019 LPH assessment and planning deliverables (CHIP, strategic plan, etc.). There is no need to submit a formal extension request. Information on future deadlines for these will be provided as the COVID-19 situation evolves. REDCap forms remain open and we will continue to accept emailed deliverable documents.
2020 performance-related accountability requirement
The performance measure for 2020, which community health boards will send to MDH by March 31, 2021, is:
- Measure 5.2.4: Monitor and revise, as needed, the strategies in the community health improvement plan (CHIP) in collaboration with broad participation from stakeholders and partners.
How to report
MDH will share information on how to submit this requirement later this year. If you have additional questions, please contact your public health nurse consultant. If you need guidance on developing a process for monitoring and revising the CHIP, please contact Ann March at ann.march@state.mn.us.
