The Yorkton Regional Health Centre and the Sunrise Health District have recently gone through its Accreditation Canada Survey process, and the preliminary results show significant improvement from the same process three years ago.
"I'm really proud of our region," Suann Laurent, president and CEO of the SHR told the regular meeting of the Board of Directors last Wednesday. " I'm proud of the entire team. This is so much work."
While the final report on the accreditation survey results is still a couple of weeks away, Laurent told the Board the preliminary indication from the surveyors shows huge strides being made within the region.
"We've had a 50 per cent improvement," she said, adding that is an indication of how much work has been done over the last three years "to meet all the criteria of national excellence."
Laurent said of the "1769 criteria to be met" only 10 per cent were "not met in our region."
Laurent noted some shortcomings were expected given the breadth of the process,
"To meet national standards is a tough thing to do," she said.
The accreditation process had surveyors "people working in the industry" spending five days in mid-November in the city to compare different aspects of the health care system here against nationally established standards.
"This evidence-based excellence," she said.
Laurent said the improvements came about in large part because the SHR has developed processes which track performances, and everyone from the board to front line health workers better understands what they are supposed to be doing.
"It speaks to how well this deployment works," she said. "People are really getting what their role is, and how important their daily work is."
Laurent said the processes of tracking performance, and having everyone on the same page in terms of meeting goals is something the SHR should be proud of.
"We're on the cutting edge," she said. " We know where we're going. We know what we're doing We're definitely on the right track."
While things have certainly improved, Laurent said there are always "opportunities for improvement", adding they are things for the SHR's "quality improvement teams to work on."
Looking at the areas of shortfall Laurent said some will be addressed as processes within the Region continue to develop.
"We have to roll out more of our strategy," she said, adding it is a case of fully informing everyone of their part in the health process.
As an example hand sanitizing was an observed shortfall. Laurent said in that area the public visiting the hospital play a role, with hand sanitizing a key defence in the spread of germs.
The accreditation process is something the SHR uses to its advantage, said Laurent.
"It's actually a voluntary process," she said, adding all health region in Saskatchewan partake in the process.
"In this region we believe very much in accreditation," adding it is a measure against established "standards of excellence."
It is a case where the process is seen to identify areas where improvements can be made with a single end goal "to improve the patient experience."
