SUNY Downstate School of Public Health Reaccredited For Next Seven Years

By Office of Communications & Marketing | Feb 12, 2024

BROOKLYN, NY – SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University today announced the reaccreditation of its School of Public Health by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). The School of Public Health successfully met 100 percent of CEPH’s criteria and was granted reaccreditation for a full seven-year term, the maximum duration allowed by the CEPH Board of Councilors for schools of public health. CEPH, an independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, is responsible for accrediting public health schools and programs outside of schools of public health.

SUNY Downstate’s School of Public Health consists of the Departments of Health Policy and Management, Community Health Sciences, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. As of winter 2023, the school has enrolled over 450 students in both Masters of Public Health and Doctor of Public Health programs. The school welcomed its inaugural cohort of Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) students in fall 2023, a program that can also be pursued concurrently with an M.D. degree.

“Attaining accreditation from the CEPH is a significant achievement, and being accredited for the full seven-year term underscores our school’s dedicated pursuit of excellence in public health education and our goal of advancing health equity for all,” said School of Public Health dean Kitaw Demissie, M.D., Ph.D. “With the recent introduction of our MHA student cohort, this accreditation serves as a timely acknowledgment of our accomplishments over the past decade and a reminder of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the decades to come.”

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University has held CEPH accreditation since 2005 and was most recently reaccredited in 2016.

The full CEPH accreditation report can be accessed here.

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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.

UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.