(SASKATOON) February 22, 2005 - Saskatoon Health Region has received a three-year accreditation standing from the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA). The CCHSA's accreditation program, conducted every three years, allows the Region to assess all aspects of service such as hospital, public health, human resources, information technology, long term care, home care and primary health against national standards of excellence.
"We are committed to providing quality care and service in our communities and the recommendations contained in the report will support the Region's continued improvement efforts," says Darlene Eberle, Chair, Saskatoon Regional Health Authority. "We commend the exceptional efforts of all physicians, nurses, other health professionals, support staff and volunteers in providing quality care and service to our client, patients and residents."
The Saskatoon Health Region received specific recommendations that will help focus improvement activities to enhance the care and services provided to patients, residents and clients. When assessed against CCHSA standards, the report states that the Region has, "strong ratings that demonstrates this organization's commitment to delivering quality services in all areas of the Region."
Achievements and good practices include Occupational Health and Safety, Client Patient Access Service, In Motion, Addictions Services "A Little Drug Book' and the Rehabilitation respiratory intervention. Areas for improvement include completing a capital infrastructure review to ensure client and staff safety; addressing the capital equipment requirements; developing a plan that identifies a process to meet the current and future information needs of the Region; and proceeding with the implementation of the organization's draft policy on conducting and reporting fire drills.
"The accreditation quality improvement process takes a snapshot of the organization to determine how we compare to standards of excellence," says, Candace Laing, Saskatoon Health Region's Coordinating Team Lead for Accreditation." The Health Region was assessed on four major dimensions of quality: client/community focus, responsiveness of services, system competency, and worklife."
Over the six-day survey period in December 2004, the 10-person survey team, led by Marguerite Rowe with the Capital Health Authority in Alberta and Ginette Gagne-Koch from New Brunswick, reviewed more than 1000 pages of documentation from the Health Region's 21 Accreditation teams; conducted 21 individual team interviews and more than 30 client interviews; facilitated client/staff/community partner focus groups; and toured 45 facilities throughout the Health Region.
The Accreditation process is a self-assessment and national peer evaluation program that examines the organization's commitment to the continuum of care, promotion of a population health approach, determinants of health, and improved measurement and how it all relates to overall health system. These are compared to nationally accepted standards.
This is the Saskatoon Health Region’s first accreditation. The four former Districts that make up the Region had previous accreditation status. The next accreditation survey will be conducted in 2007.
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For more information, contact:
Leanne Nyirfa,
Corporate and Public Affairs Adviser,
(306) 655-3386
Saskatoon Health Region
"Healthiest people, healthiest communities, exceptional service."
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