Certification Guidelines

What is Certification?

Requirements for Certification

Certification Submission Form

What is Certification?

The Association of California Healthcare Districts (ACHD) is leading the way for healthcare districts to be leaders in transforming California’s evolving healthcare landscape. ACHD helps local districts meet the changing needs of local communities. To assist members in demonstrating exemplary compliance in meeting the health and governance needs of the public, ACHD has developed a set of standards referred to as “Best Practices in Governance.” Healthcare districts that demonstrate compliance with these practices can be designated as a "Certified Healthcare District". Please note that these do not ensure a district complies with all State and Federal regulations.

Requirements for Certification

The Healthcare District Certification Program is an ACHD-solely sponsored program that incorporates current legislative requirements with public governance best practices. Districts that seek certification must demonstrate compliance with all requirements of certification by submitting their documentation online. Certification must be renewed every three years.

Certification Submission Form

ACHD has a simple online Submission Form to allow healthcare districts to upload all requirements.

Districts can view example policies, links, and documents in the Example Certified Healthcare District Library.

Submission Form Link

Demonstrating Compliance

Districts seeking to demonstrate compliance with the Healthcare District Certification Program must provide evidence of meeting the certification standards, either through a PDF document or a weblink form and as directed below.

There are six sections below, and each section has a list of items that are needed to demonstrate compliance.

Transparency

Government entities exist to serve the people. As a special district, healthcare districts are required to conduct their public business under California Law and demonstrate that they are responsible stewards of public funds. Healthcare districts must provide public access to district information.

To demonstrate best practices in transparency, districts are required to provide:

(For additional information regarding each documentation requirement, please click the links below)

Website Requirements

There are more than 2,000 special districts in California, including 76 healthcare districts, however less than half of those districts have a website. These statistics led the Little Hoover Commission, in its 2017 report on special districts, entitled Special Districts: Improving Oversight & Transparency, to recommend that the Legislature require every special district to have a website.

In response to requests from the State Legislature and the Little Hoover Commission, and in furtherance of ACHD’s efforts to increase the awareness, accessibility, and transparency of special districts, ACHD supported AB 1728 which requires all healthcare districts to have a website to increase the awareness, accessibility, and transparency of healthcare districts. ACHD believes there are key website components that promote transparency in addition to those mandated by AB 1728 and AB 2019.

To demonstrate best practices in website content, districts are required to provide the following (by submitting a link) on their website:

(For additional information regarding each website link requirement, please click the links below)

Executive Compensation

Healthcare districts should have a written policy that defines the process for determining executive compensation, including all benefits received. As government entities, healthcare districts must be transparent in how compensation is determined, and the standards used to evaluate compensation of executives.

To demonstrate effective executive compensation, districts are required to provide:

(For additional information regarding each documentation requirement, please click the links below)

State and Local Agency Reporting

All special districts, including healthcare districts are subject to LAFCO review. An MSR, is a comprehensive study to determine the adequacy of governmental services being provided by the local agencies under LAFCO jurisdiction (Government Code Section 56430). These studies may be used by LAFCO, other governmental agencies, and the public to understand better and improve provision of services and to identify opportunities for greater cooperation between service providers. The service review is a prerequisite to a sphere of influence update and may lead a LAFCO to recommend actions to other agencies or to take actions under its own authority.

To demonstrate state/local agency reporting, districts are required to provide:

(For additional information regarding each documentation requirement, please click the links below)

Financial Reporting

Public financial reporting is legally required and essential to hold government officials accountable for making appropriate decisions, minimize corruption, and provide citizens an opportunity to understand how government dollars are spent.

To demonstrate financial reporting, districts are required to provide:

(For additional information regarding each documentation requirement, please click the links below)

Best Practices

ACHD has identified a set of best practices that should enhance the effectiveness of a healthcare district. By definition, best practices are a set of methods or programs that have been found to be successful by other governmental entities (or corporations) in helping a Board establish and manage the healthcare district’s strategic objectives.

To demonstrate compliance, districts are required to provide:

(For additional information regarding each documentation requirement, please click the links below)

In addition to the best practice requirements above, ACHD requires a demonstration of additional examples of how the district engages in planning for the future and for engaging with the community. To demonstrate additional examples of best practices, please provide at least three of the following:

Certification Guidelines

Submission Form Link

Demonstrating Compliance

Certification Form Link

Association of California Healthcare Districts