Top marks for All Nations Healing Hospital

The All Nations Healing Hospital (ANHH) is proving it’s a cut above the rest.

Accreditation Canada again has given the aboriginally owned and operated hospital, located on Treaty 4 grounds in Fort Qu’Appelle, an exemplary rating.

Lorna Breitkreuz, director of client services for ANHH, said the hospital goes through the accreditation process every four years, but works to provide the best care and service possible every day.

Accreditation Canada is an independent, not-for-profit organization that sets national standards to ensure health facilities are meeting the needs of health quality. It accredits more than 1,100 clients and more than 5,800 hospitals and community-based sites in the public and private sectors in Canada. ANHH is measured against the same standards.

Surveyors spend four days on site to review documentation, speak to staff and identify any new quality improvements, services and programs, said Breitkreuz.

“They also measure our quality improvement and patient safety against national standards,” she said.

Prior to 2007, ANHH was accredited with the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, but changes in the process required the Fort Qu’Appelle hospital to get its own accreditation.

In 2008, ANHH met the standards and received it. Accreditation Canada surveyors returned in 2011 and, at that time, ANHH was required to do some followup work before it received exemplary standing.

This time around, ANHH has been accredited with exemplary standing, but with no followup actions required. This marks eight years of exemplary status, something fewer than five per cent of Canadian hospitals receive.

Breitkreuz said it’s thrilling news for the hospital.

“The public can be well assured that when they come to the hospital, they will receive the best possible care. And when they come to this organization, it has been recognized as an organization that exceeds national standards,” she said.

ANHH is a 14-bed rural acutecare hospital that also provides 24-hour emergency services and 24-hour lab and X-ray services. There is an on-site women’s health centre with a low-risk birthing unit.

“We were measured against six standard areas ... those include medication services, medicine management, primary-care services, infection-prevention control, governance and leadership,” said Breitkreuz.

“In all those six areas, we were measured against a number of standards and were one point short of perfect in every one of those areas.”

Despite being almost perfect, she said ANHH is continuing to consult with First Nations leadership and the public to ensure it meets the community’s needs.

It plans to expand services for renal care because this was identified as an area where a gap existed.