Special Accreditation Issue – June 2023

Accreditation information

This special accreditation edition provides staff, physicians and volunteers with valuable information to prepare for the survey. Additional resources can be found on SharePoint. If you have any questions please contact your leader or: Jennifer.Payton@sjhc.london.on.ca

How does an accreditation survey work?

Accreditation is a quality improvement process; it helps our organization identify what we’re doing well and where we need to focus our improvement efforts. It allows us to assess a broad range of services and understand how to make better use of resources, increase efficiency, enhance quality and safety and reduce risk. It also helps St. Joseph’s define and measure the quality of our care against national standards of excellence.

Accreditation involves all members of the St. Joseph’s family, across all sites and locations; from our board of directors and volunteers to direct-care and support staff, as well as members of the community including patients, residents, families and care partners. Exceptional care involves all of us.

An on-site survey is conducted by trained peer surveyors who assess the organization against national standards. The surveyors are health care professionals and administrators from accredited health care organizations. After the on-site survey, the surveyors submit a preliminary report to the health care organization and to Accreditation Canada.

Accreditation Canada examines the surveyors’ report and provides the organization with a final report and an accreditation decision based on the on-site survey. The results of the on-site survey point to areas of success and areas where improvements can be made; the latter are used to bolster the organization’s ongoing quality improvement program.

The accreditation decision lasts for four years.