Lawrence and Douglas County invite the public to join a celebration recognizing the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department in achieving national accreditation status from the Public Health Accreditation Board.

The Community Celebration will be from 5 to 6 p.m. June 18 at the Community Health Facility, 200 Maine St. There will be hors d’oeuvres and beverages. The program, which starts at 5:30 p.m., and include:

• Remarks from Lawrence and Douglas County leaders
• Brief presentation by Dr. Robert Moser, executive director of the Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative at Kansas University Hospital and former Kansas Department of Health and Environment secretary
• Health Department video and unveiling of award

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department is among the first 75 health departments in the nation to receive national accreditation and the third in Kansas. The national accreditation program sets standards against which the country’s more than 3,000 health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance. To receive accreditation, a health department must undergo a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment process to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of quality standards and measures.