Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Pembroke Regional Hospital Celebrates After Receiving Accreditation With Commendation From Accreditation Canada
PEMBROKE – The healthcare team at the Pembroke Regional Hospital is proud to announce it has been awarded “Accreditation with Commendation” by Accreditation Canada after surpassing the fundamental requirements of the Qmentum accreditation program.
Hospital President and CEO Pierre Noel attributed the success to the hard work and commitment of many people – staff, physicians, board members, and volunteers.
“I am very proud of our team! This evaluation against national standards further motivates us to continue to strive toward our vision of delivering the safest and highest quality of care to every person, every encounter, every day.”
Accreditation Canada is an independent, not-for-profit organization that sets standards for quality and safety in healthcare and accredits health organizations in Canada and around the world.
As part of the Qmentum accreditation program, the Pembroke Regional Hospital underwent a rigorous evaluation process. Following a comprehensive self-assessment, external peer surveyors conducted a four day on-site survey in September during which they assessed the leadership, governance, clinical programs and services at PRH against Accreditation Canada requirements for quality and safety. These requirements include national standards of excellence; required organizational practices to ensure best practices and reduce potential harm; and questionnaires to assess the work environment, patient safety culture, governance functioning and client experience.
The hospital’s involvement in the program yielded exceptional results. Of the 1,854 applicable standards, PRH met or surpassed 1,819 of them or 98.1%, and of the 29 required organizational practices, PRH fully met 28 of these and partially met the last one dealing with antimicrobial stewardship.
Acknowledging that these results are the best the Hospital has ever received as part of an accreditation process, Mr. Noel said the team from Accreditation Canada observed and gathered information about the quality and safety of care throughout all departments and patient care units as part of the survey, and interviewed many of the hospital’s leaders on various practices.
“Accreditation surveys, such as this one, provide us with an opportunity to not only showcase our strengths but to also uncover new ways in which to improve the quality of care we provide,” Mr. Noel said.
Last year, of the 381 surveys that occurred across a variety of health and services organizations, 25% were Accredited with Commendation.
As part of its on-site debriefing, the surveyors referred to the Pembroke Regional Hospital as a “gem of a hospital” and expressed their gratitude for the hospitality of the healthcare team.
Some of the identified strengths of the organization included the hospital’s quality improvement processes, the use of Lean methodologies to improve efficiency and de-clutter the organization, patient flow and the significant reduction in wait times, staff training, the overall cleanliness of the facility, infection control practices, the recruitment and retention of human resources, the hospital’s Board and Senior Leadership Team and its financial status.
As part of the final Accreditation report, it was noted that, “The PRH has a history of excellent financial performance over the years, and in spite of the funding constraints it has kept programs whole and in some cases, has grown to support care needs or brought new services closer in partnership with others.”
In reference to partnerships with other healthcare agencies and based on feedback from community partners, it was noted that, “Quality of care, awareness of the catchment communities’ needs, and always being a willing partner were expressed by all participants. In addition, there is always a positive desire from the PRH leaders and teams to participate, take action and collaborate, and proactively implement best practices to address gaps in community care delivery.”
Survey reports and interviews demonstrate that patient satisfaction is good and staff members express overall satisfaction in working at PRH.
“We saw a great deal of engagement and enthusiasm among staff throughout this process as well as a willingness to share their experiences with the surveyors,” said Karen Roosen, Vascular Health Coordinator who assisted with the Accreditation process, adding that staff really viewed this as a quality improvement exercise which led to great team collaboration and an excellent outcome.
There was a strong core team of staff who assisted in the Accreditation process including a team of late career nurses and many others who worked behind-the-scenes to ensure the hospital really had an opportunity to shine, Mrs. Roosen said.
“And thanks to their efforts and the contributions by many other members of our healthcare team and community partners, we truly did.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Carolyn Levesque, Public Affairs and Communications Coordinator
Pembroke Regional Hospital
613-732-3675, ext. 6165 / carolyn.levesque1111@gmail.com
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