St. Joseph’s Health Care London will hold the highest designation given by Accreditation Canada for another four years.
For the third straight time, the hospital has been "Accredited with Exemplary Standing," a distinction it has held for the last eight years and will now continue to hold for another four.
“This is a remarkable achievement,” said President and CEO Dr. Gillian Kernaghan, in a news release. “Receiving exemplary standing for a third time is testament to the tremendous dedication of our staff and physicians to quality and safety. It also shows that St. Joseph’s not only works to achieve our goals - but also to sustain them. This organization is one that doesn’t stop after crossing the finish line – we press on for continued improvement, asking ourselves how we can do better. This is the true test of excellence. I’m very proud of our teams.”
The hospital received a 99.6 per cent grade after being evaluated against a total of 1,980. As well, every single required organizational practice was met.
“We are continually trying to raise the bar,” said Jodi Younger, vice president of patient care and quality. “We even went beyond the Accreditation Canada survey requirements and had an additional surveyor to asses our focus on patient-centred care.”
Hospital officials said they were also credited for their responsiveness to feedback from patients and their families, strong academic and research focus, favourable financial position, St. Joseph’s Health Care London Foundation support, and commitment to psychological health and safety.
When gauging each hospital's standing, Accreditation Canada spends close to a week at each site, observing care processes, interviewing patients, families, staff, physicians, and community partners and examining documentation and performance data.
