CHAPEL HILL -David Stone, health director in Surry County, North Carolina, has been hired to be local health department accreditation administrator at the N.C. Institute for Public Health (NCIPH).

North Carolina is the first state to require local health departments to become accredited, demonstrating an ability to deliver services consistently to its constituents.  The credentialing process is a joint program of the N.C. Division of Public Health and the Institute.

Said Dr. Ed Baker, director of NCIPH, "David comes with a rich background and experience in public health and public health accreditation.  He has been a health director for seven years and is also a member of the accreditation committee of the N.C. Association of Local Health Directors."

Stone will oversee the accreditation system, which processes ten local health departments across the state each year.  This position was previously held by the late Craig Michalak.

Stone is a graduate of N.C. State University and the California College of Health Sciences, San Diego.

He is a past president of the North Carolina Public Health Association.

David Stone begins at Carolina on January 2, 2008

Accreditation Web site:   www.sph.unc.edu/nciph/accred

School of Public Health contact:   bev_holt@unc.edu, 919-966-6274