Health PEI granted Accredited status

Health PEI has been awarded Accredited status by Accreditation Canada. 

In June, a team of health care experts from Accreditation Canada toured 30 locations across Health PEI, interacting with various patients, clients, residents, families, community partners, physicians and staff.

In all, 25 standards were reviewed, and 3,507 criteria examined by the Accreditation Canada team. Health PEI met 3,380 of the applicable criteria, or 96 per cent. 

“I would like to congratulate Health PEI staff on a successful Accreditation cycle. Accreditation is all about continuous improvement, and this report shows improvement in the system since 2017, while also highlighting the strong strategic direction of the organization. I commend Health PEI for its ongoing commitment to quality improvement.”

- Health and Wellness Minister Ernie Hudson

Health PEI will report back to Accreditation Canada on areas where more information and updates are required.  

“Going into this Accreditation survey, our health care team was clear that the goal was to do an honest assessment of our system and how it functions so that we can continuously improve,” said Dr. Michael Gardam, CEO. “Our staff and stakeholders who took part in this process were candid about the successes and challenges we face. As a result, the Accreditation Canada surveyors were able to provide a report that captures the high-quality of work done by staff every day, as well as the areas where we need to make changes to do things better – all of which we are already aware of and have begun work to address.”

Accreditation Canada’s final report identified several strengths throughout our health system, such as:

• Quality of care provided at the frontlines 
• Focus on person-centered care
• Engaged leadership, staff and physicians
• Dedicated Health PEI Board of Directors
• Strong relationships with community partners
• Improvements in medication management, mental health and addictions and client flow

Accreditation Canada noted various areas of improvement such as:

• Aging infrastructure
• Hybrid charting
• Gaps in technology 
• Staffing, recruitment and retention challenges
• Leadership development
• Referrals between hospital and community
• Client flow

 “Each of these areas were already identified by the Health PEI team as needing attention, and our teams are already working on them and with partners to make improvements,” said Dr. Gardam. “Having these noted by Accreditation Canada confirms our direction and approach to quality improvement.”

Health PEI will be providing further information to Accreditation Canada in December 2022 and June 2023 related to some Required Organizational Practices (ROPs) and high priority criteria including medication reconciliation, information at care transitions, client identification, medication management, client engagement and ethics.

“I want to extend my sincere appreciation and thanks to all staff, physicians and patient/family partners and for taking time out of their busy schedule to prepare for the survey visit and to meet with surveyors during their visit to our healthcare facilities,” said Dr. Gardam. “It is to your credit that Health PEI achieved the results reflected in the survey report and is well positioned to address the recommendations and continue our focus on quality improvement and safety.”  

Media Contact:

Everton McLean

Chief Communications Officer

Health PEI

emclean@gov.pe.ca