Accountability and Patient Safety

The Excellent Care for All Act 2010 requires public hospitals, primary health care organizations, Community Care Access Centres (CCAC) and Long-Term Care homes to create a Quality Improvement Plan that is sent to Health Quality Ontario (HQO) and the respective Local Health Integrated Network (LHIN) and posted to the Organizations Internet site annually on April 1st.

SJGHEL is a centre of excellence that provides first class Healthcare services that focus on people, patients, and our communities. Delivering first-class care means ensuring that each patient benefits from  high quality safe care. As a result, everyone at St. Joseph’s General Hospital Elliot Lake (SJGHEL) is focused on quality and safety.

Quality

At SJGHEL, quality means providing our patients with appropriate, consistent health care in a clean and safe environment, in which the patient is treated with respect.

We strive to give the highest-quality care to the people who need it. To us, “quality” means providing safe and appropriate care to our patients. For you, our patients, it means that you get the care you need when you need it close to home. It also means that you are treated in a supportive, caring, and clean hospital.

Quality and safety are our top priorities.

Patient Safety

The Canadian Patient Safety Dictionary (2003) defines patient safety as “the reduction and mitigation of unsafe acts within the healthcare system, as well as through the use of best practices shown to lead to optimal patient outcomes”.

SJGHEL has a strong commitment to patient safety and quality improvement. Our Hospital supports the provincial government’s public reporting requirements that will help enhance patient safety, improve performance, and strengthen the public’s confidence in Ontario’s hospitals.

Patient Safety is a priority at SJGHEL, and our Hospital strives to create a “Just Culture” that features: 

• acknowledgement of the high risk and error-prone nature of health care activities,
• a blame free environment where individuals can report errors and close calls without fear of reprimand or punishment,
• an expectation of collaboration to seek solutions and create quality improvement action plans, and
• a willingness on the part of the organization to divert resources for addressing safety concerns.

As part of the provincial government’s public reporting of patient safety indicators, all hospitals must publicly report on their infection rates.