Sun Country Health Region has met the rigorous conditions that apply to gaining accreditation from the Accreditation Canada board of examiners.
The region’s care practices and policies met 95.3 per cent of the national standards, said the recent Sun Country media release issued on Nov. 14.
The national standards are used to measure the ability of Canadian health care organizations to provide high quality, safe and effectively managed health care.
The week-long evaluation process of all programs and services was carried out between Sept. 28 and Oct. 3. The accreditation team conducted visits to 16 facilities within the Sun Country region.
Surveyors judged the SCHR on the basis of leadership, governance, medication management standards, infection prevention and control. They measured all programs provided to populations with chronic conditions, child and youth populations, maternal/child and senior populations and public health services.
Services in the SCHR’s operating rooms, primary health care, surgical care, emergency departments, home care, long-term care, medicine, rehabilitation, emergency medical services, community-based mental health and addictions, obstetrics, inpatient mental health and reprocessing were also measured for excellence.
Accreditation is part of the health region’s ongoing process of quality improvement, the release noted. The formal evaluation and survey is conducted every four years by an independent team of surveyors from across Canada.
Accreditation Canada is a not-for-profit, independent organization that provides national and international health care organizations with an external peer review process to assess and recommend improvements to the services they provide to patients and clients based on standards of excellence.
Surveyors noted the Lean management system promotes a way of providing quality care and services to a target population and the mechanism for engaging front line staff in creating positive change. They said this direction works well for SCHR and the region is encouraged to continue to provide education about Lean to staff.
“We are very pleased with the results and will work diligently with staff to complete the few remaining standards in the required time frame,” said Marga Cugnet, SCHR’s president and CEO.
