Dear Colleagues,
Accreditation Canada has just awarded UHN with an "Accreditation" award – the highest award possible. This was truly our best Accreditation ever. You may recall that out of 1,521 standards, UHN received a perfect score on 1,509.
Overall, the surveyors described UHN as having "an innovative, progressive, caring, patient-centred health care service corporate structure that has a devoted staff and renowned medical and administrative staff." Our community partners view UHN as an organization that "strives to find solutions to the new and varied challenges facing the community." The SIMS partnership, in particular, was recognized as an "enabler that has made a tremendous improvement to patient care."
Our clinical programs across UHN received praise with recognition that many of our programs are not available anywhere else in Canada. Our cancer care, lung transplant and arthritis programs were just a few singled out by the surveyors. The surveyors recognized our long-term commitment to staff and described UHN as a "high quality employer with a just and blame free culture."
Our organization's deep commitment to patient safety did not go unnoticed. As I mentioned in my last "Straight Talk" we have implemented a number of outstanding patient safety initiatives, including MOE/MAR and a Surgical Checklist. The surveyors recognized our Board and our employees' passion for quality and patient safety, along with our extensive quality reporting using clearly defined metrics, a structured accountability framework and our use of a Balanced Scorecard approach.
As part of the accreditation process, hospitals may be recognized for having a "Leading Practice" - a noteworthy activity, practice or process that is innovative and tied to Accreditation Canada standards. Two of our many outstanding Leading Practices were highlighted by the surveyors:
- They praised the Emergency Department (ED) Long-Term Care Home Emergency Mobile Program, which connects hospital geriatric nurses with elderly residents in 12 long-term care homes located within our catchment area. Led by Mary Ferguson-Pare and Mary Jane McNally, TWH's Director of Nursing, this program supports LTC residents in their home to prevent transfers to the ED.
- Our Radiation Medicine Program (RMP) was recognized for its process-oriented approach to treatment planning and the delivery of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). IMRT is the new standard of care for treating many forms of cancer and RMP is recognized as an international leader in delivery of IMRT.
On behalf of the Senior Management Team, I would like to once again congratulate and thank everyone for making Accreditation 2008 our best ever! I also want to recognize the UHN Accreditation Team for spearheading this extensive process: Cara Flemming, Anita Tepfers, Christa Hruska, Justin Stone and Jane Moser.
I encourage everyone to read the report, which is available on the Intranet under Accreditation.
Bob
