Accreditation Canada's preliminary report: Success!

Surveyors from Accreditation Canada capped a four-day tour of our sites last week to deliver high and well-deserved praise for our teams’ work and quest for excellence and innovation.

“It is said that the ultimate test of the Accreditation process is the clear demonstration that the organization is dedicated to improving quality, so you could compare it to a Polaroid (photo) of the organization taken at a given moment,” MUHC President and Executive Director Dr. Pierre Gfeller said. “A picture was taken today and it is clear we are committed to this path and we have made impressive steps since our last accreditation, which should be congratulated.”

Between May 27 and 30, Qmentum team leader Dr. Simon Racine and six colleagues evaluated  27 priority sectors in clinical and administrative areas – focusing on 26 Required Organizational Practices (ROPs) and nearly 2,000 criteria as part of the latest peer review of organizational practices and standards highlighting our institutional-wide strengths.

What they found was a culture of patient engagement and partnership, continuous quality improvement, patient safety and risk management, and innovation, which live and breathe at every level of the organization and across its sites.

“You can feel it with teams throughout the organization. It was very impressive to see with patients and family partners, that everything is geared to benefit the patient,” Dr. Racine said during an address in the Research Institute auditorium that was broadcast to the MUHC community via videoconference.

Racine commended the MUHC on its ability to maintain high quality and patient safety care and services while transitioning to the Glen and during a period characterized as a “tsunami” of change. He also praised the Controlling Specific Infections Successful Strategies (CSISS) initiative for improving hand hygiene and preventing the spread of infections. 

There were a few areas of improvement to address including growing pains at the Glen site since the move plus modernization of infrastructure at the Montreal General Hospital and the Lachine Hospital. Dr. Gfeller pointed to Medication Reconciliation as the main point of focus for improvement before the next Qmentum review.

The Accreditation report for this first visit will be released by the end of June, and final marks will follow once Accreditation Canada reviews all Quebec healthcare institutions.  

“In 2021, we will need to demonstrate that we have made even more progress in our continuous improvement journey, but I am very confident we can meet that challenge,” said Dr. Gfeller. “I thank all of you for your tremendous efforts and the commitment shown by all our teams in providing quality care for our patients.”