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Dear Colleagues, 


After months of hard work, UHN Accreditation 2008 wrapped up today. Accreditation is an opportunity to showcase our achievements in patient care and corporate services, as well as identify opportunities for improvement. The seven surveyors from across Canada met with hundreds of staff, patients, the Board of Trustees, leaders and community partners to evaluate our compliance with national standards of excellence in quality and safety of services. They were all thoroughly impressed by our culture of patient centred care and our commitment to quality and safety throughout the organization. Perhaps the best way to summarize our results:

They tested us on 1,521 standards - and we got a perfect score on 1,509!!

As we heard from the surveyors at this afternoon’s debriefing session, we have a lot to celebrate at UHN. Here are a few highlights to share:

·UHN’s culture of commitment to quality and patient safety has permeated throughout the organization. Staff are very passionate about this area and they are committed to helping UHN achieve our goal of becoming the safest hospital in Canada. The surveyors recognized our hand hygiene program as one of many successful patient safety initiatives implemented along with medication reconciliation. In particular, our GIM floors on 8A and B Fell at Toronto Western Hospital were recognized for dramatically reducing their hospital-acquired infections through creative ways, such as posting their daily rates for "hospital-acquired free days" and identifying IPAC champions on the floor.

·We have a very robust information platform, provided by SIMS, to support our clinical services and programs. Our ability to provide the best and safest patient care is reliant on a strong e-Health platform. 

·Our community partners told the surveyors that they considered UHN as their “partner” of choice. We work with countless health care partners across the health care continuum to ensure seamless care.

·Our environmental management approach to lessen our impact on the environment was recognized. The TLC (Thermostat, Lights and Controls) pilot was a successful approach for conserving energy. 

·The surveyors were pleased with our creative and effective ways of communicating with staff. 

·They highlighted safety efforts in cancer care, including initiatives for improving safety in radiation and chemotherapy as well as patient outcomes in palliative care

·They were tremendously impressed by our patient flow initiatives, including GIM bullet rounds 

·They were very appreciative of the complexity of care provided in our operating rooms, critical care areas and emergency departments and impressed by the many quality initiatives that have improved care in this high acuity programs. 

The surveyors will no doubt leave UHN with a wealth of information and exposure to leading-edge initiatives and approaches that will help other Canadian health care organizations. A full report will be available in a few months, which will be posted on the Accreditation Intranet site in the next few weeks.

On behalf of the Senior Management Team, congratulations to everyone for their accomplishments and thank you for your enormous contribution, dedication and hard work. A tremendous thank you to the Accreditation Team for leading us through this year’s new process: Cara Flemming, Anita Tepfer, Christa Hruska, Justin Stone and Jane Moser. 

​Bob​
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