St. Joseph’s Health Care London has received its fourth honorable rating from Accreditation Canada, making it the organization’s best result to date by meeting 99 percent
of its rigorous set of standards. St.Joseph’s has received a designation of excellence from Accreditation Canada, an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides peer reviews to
healthcare organizations in several departments within the organization. Roy Butler, president and CEO of
St. Joseph said he is proud of the organization’s staff, volunteers, care partners, board of directors, and leadership. “This is a real testament to our commitment to excellence and our commitment to providing high-quality care,” he said. Butler said: “I am honored to be a service provider to the City of London and its region and beyond. “And we hope the city will be proud to know that our organization has received this designation, “Butler said staff from the Canadian accreditation agency spent four days at the hospital investigating and measuring the organization’s performance against more than 1,700 standards across five core St. Louis locations. Joseph and 30 organizational activities. The survey takes place every four years and St. Joseph’s is expected to retain this status until the next review by Accreditation Canada. Butler said the agency spent time working in clinical and support area units, observing, talking to patients and families, and reviewing documents. Out of 1,715 criteria, St. Joseph’s met 1,713 – including all of the organization’s required practices, an essential practice that organizations must adopt to enhance patient safety and reduce risk.
Butler said the two criteria not met by the hospital were related and had been implemented. Butler said the pharmacy area – a negative pressure room – is being renovated to incorporate new technology, which was not ready at the time of the agency’s investigation. He added that this was not related to any patient safety concerns. Key criteria not previously met have been addressed, including business continuity plans “if something happens in the organization,” Butler said.
“This is an area we strengthened four years ago. It has been recognized by experts as fully compliant,” he said. Another improvement criterion is a focus on patient and family engagement within the organization. Although St. Joe’s is celebrating the results, Butler said the organization’s goal is to meet the agency’s rigorous standards. “It’s about continuous improvement, focusing on excellence, and continuing to meet those exemplary standards every day,” he said. St. Joseph’s is celebrating the recognition of the London Health Sciences Centre, which received an Honorable Mention from Accreditation Canada for the second consecutive time in March. LHSC achieved a perfect score in the category The Required Organizational Practices section, reviews six factors important to minimizing patient risk, including infection control and the safe use of high-risk medications. The hospital met 99.2 percent of Accreditation Canada’s 3,348 standards, including safety, ethics, risk management, and quality improvement.