Board of Health Operating Procedures Explanation

November 21, 2006

The Board of Health Operating Procedures document is a template for local board of health operating procedures. Chris Hoke and Jill Moore developed this template in consultation with Accreditation Administrator Craig Michalak. The permanent accreditation rules include Benchmark/Activities (34.1 and 34.2) that require boards of health to have operating procedures that comply with state law and to review those procedures annually. The requirement for operating procedures replaced an earlier accreditation rule that allowed (but did not require) boards to have bylaws, so long as those bylaws complied with state laws.

Parts of the template are based on model rules that appear in a book authored by Jill’s SOG colleague Fleming Bell (Suggested Rules of Procedure for Small Local Government Boards, 2nd ed.). We used Fleming’s ideas—and in some places his exact words—with his permission, and we gratefully acknowledge his assistance and expertise on these issues.

We offer this template so that you can have a model that satisfies the Accreditation Board’s expectations and avoids conflicts with state laws. Please note that there are several places where you must supply information that’s specific to your board but otherwise use it as written.

Please feel free to contact Jill Moore 919-966-4442 or Chris Hoke  919-707-5006 if you have any questions.