100% of required practices and standards met

TORONTO, March 8, 2012 /CNW/ - North York General Hospital (NYGH) has received Accreditation with Exemplary Standing, the highest designation from Accreditation Canada. To receive this level of Accreditation is a very rare achievement for any hospital or health service provider in Canada.

Being Accredited with Exemplary Standing means an organization has attained the highest level of performance and quality against standards and criteria in the accreditation program. Surveyors from Accreditation Canada used over 1800 criteria to evaluate the hospital. NYGH met 100 per cent of requirements in every area, including all patient care programs and administrative functions like strategic and operational planning, and community engagement.

"The results are an illustration of what we do every day; putting patients first in everything we do.  Everyone has a role in enhancing the quality of care and ensuring the safety of our patients," said Dr. Tim Rutledge, President and CEO, North York General Hospital. Our commitment to learning and our culture of quality and safety is what sets us apart."

NYGH has implemented several initiatives that contributed to this recent achievement.  Over the last three years, the hospital launched a computerized provider order entry system that integrates the latest clinical evidence from medical literature, enabling clinicians to follow the most up-to-date practices and provide the best quality care.

The hospital implemented barcode scanning that uniquely identifies each medication and each patient, across all of its medical, surgical and critical care units; a first in Canada. This keeps patients safe by reducing the risk for medication errors by alerting healthcare providers if they are about to make an error when administering a medication.

NYGH is leading the province when it comes to meeting provincial wait time targets for surgery. Today, every patient across all surgical wait time areas at NYGH is seen within established targets.  This accomplishment was the result of improvements to scheduling processes, including implementation of an electronic booking system, training for administrative staff and regular follow-up in doctor's offices.

Accreditation with Exemplary Standing should give patients and family member s the confidence and assurance that the care provided at NYGH will be of the highest caliber.  At all times, the patient is at the centre of the work performed and care provided by the staff, physicians and volunteers at NYGH. While on site, the Accreditors noted that NYGH's commitment to quality and safety is evident from the boardroom to the bedside.

Accreditation Canada champions patient safety through its accreditation process, which identifies opportunities to improve safety practices and supports healthcare organizations to promote safe care, reduce risk and foster continuous quality improvement. Organizations participating in the process are eligible for one of four Accreditation decisions: Accreditation with Exemplary Standing, Accreditation with Commendation, Accredited, and Not-Accredited.

North York General Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is one of Canada's leading community academic hospitals. We offer our culturally diverse community a wide range of acute care, ambulatory and long-term care services across three sites.  The hospital embraces health by providing innovative and compassionate care for the whole family at every stage of life.

Elizabeth McCarthy, Senior Communications Specialist
P: 416-756-6725
E: elizabeth.mccarthy@nygh.on.ca