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The Ontario Council on Community Health Accreditation (OCCHA)
was formed in 1981. OCCHA in an independent agency directed by a Board
of Directors whose
members are appointed by professional associations involved in public
health.
OCCHA's conviction is that the provision of quality public
health programs and services requires sound administrative and operational
processes. Through the accreditation process,
OCCHA provides an independent, voluntary, peer evaluation of the
administrative and operational aspects of local public health agencies.
To be appointed to the OCCHA Board of Directors, a
representative must be active at the management/consultative level in
public health and must be approved for election or appointment by the
member organization which he/she is representing on the OCCHA Board.
Summary of Activities
October 2009 to March 2010
OCCHA’s Mission Statement
The Ontario Council on Community Health Accreditation
promotes accountability and excellence in public health programs and
services.
OCCHA's Mandate
To
establish, review and revise accreditation standards related to
governance, administration, program planning, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation.
To
enhance knowledge through consultation and shared experience.
To
measure agency performance against peer set standards, provide
comprehensive reports and confer accreditation awards.
To
promote and facilitate continuous quality improvement in public health
units through consultation across Ontario public health units.
To
work in partnership with other community health organizations and
relevant provincial ministries to promote excellence in public health
programs and services.
OCCHA’s Strategic Directions
1. Strengthen OCCHA’s partnership with the MOHLTC by creating
opportunities for collaboration in support of public health renewal.
2. Enhance customer service and marketing of OCCHA and the
accreditation process and nurture/strengthen alliances and partnerships
in support of OCCHA’s mission.
3. Encourage and facilitate organizational excellence and ongoing
quality of practice (CQI) in public health.
4. Build the capacity to fulfill OCCHA’s role in support of public
health renewal.
Key Initiatives for 2009-2010
1.
Full implementation of the new accreditation program,
Advancing Quality in Public Health.
2.
Development and coordination of a surveyor training workshop to
expand the roster of OCCHA surveyors.
3.
Development of indicators and quality attributes in support of
the OCCHA quality framework for public health units.
4.
Continued consultation with the Ministry of Health and Long Term
Care in support of public health renewal, performance measurement
and accountability.
5.
Continued marketing of the accreditation program and the
development of guidelines and tools to assist health units in their
preparations for an accreditation survey.
OCCHA’s Accreditation Award and Standards - Advancing
Quality in Public Health
The revised accreditation process, Advancing
Quality in Public Health, was implemented in January 2009. To date,
three health units have participated in the new process. There are four
additional accreditation surveys scheduled to take place prior to the
end of June 2010. Additional tools developed in support of the new
process include: a) an OCCHA annual agency questionnaire; b) on-line
quality surveys for the board, staff and community partners; c) annual
review reporting tools, and d) the OCCHA annual health unit report. In
addition, OCCHA will continue to offer support to all health units
through on-site presentations and program updates. Upon completion of the surveys in 2010, the OCCHA Board
of Directors will conduct a formal evaluation of the new process and
tools. The OCCHA Board of Directors would like to, once again,
thank all those who provided feedback into the revised accreditation
standards and process.
OCCHA’s Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Advisory
Group and Quality Framework for Public Health Units
The CQI Advisory Group provides ongoing feedback to
OCCHA on CQI initiatives and assists in priority-setting of CQI
activities. Membership on the Advisory Group is open to all public
health units. The CQI Advisory Group will be reviewing its mandate for
the 2009-2010 fiscal year and beyond. The quality framework for public
health units has been updated and is linked to the revised accreditation
process. Quality surveys for board, staff and community partners
have been developed to facilitate implementation of the framework and to
support continuous quality improvement in public health units. These
surveys are available to all health units. In addition, OCCHA has
developed draft indicators and quality
attributes for the accreditation standards in support of the
framework. The CQI Advisory Group will be asked to provide
feedback on the quality attributes to the OCCHA Board of Directors. Upon
formal review, the quality attributes and indicators will be used to
support both the accreditation process and quality framework.
Should you wish to participate on this Advisory Group or should
you wish further information on the quality framework or supporting
quality documents/tools, please contact Bev Russ at
bevruss@occha.org
Public Health Renewal
The Ontario
Public Health Standards (OPHS) have been incorporated into the new accreditation
program. The OCCHA Board of Directors looks forward to
our continued involvement in support of public health renewal,
particularly in the areas of performance measurement and accountability.
We will continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Health and
Long-Term Care in support of the implementation of a performance
management framework for public health.
Surveyor
Training Workshop
The OCCHA Surveyor Training Workshop was conducted
on March 29, 2010. There were approximately sixty participants
representing twenty two health units in attendance. We would like to
thank all those who attended for their interest in the accreditation
process and for their feedback. Results of the evaluation of the
workshop will be presented to the OCCHA Board of Directors at their next
meeting.
Accreditation Surveys
As previously noted, OCCHA will be conducting at least
four surveys prior to the end of June 2010. In addition, there are
three additional surveys scheduled to take place by the end of November
2010 and two annual on-site reviews. Health Units interested in
learning more about OCCHA and the accreditation process should contact
Meighan Finlay at
meighanfinlay@occha.org. OCCHA would be pleased to provide a
presentation to your Board of Health or Health Unit. |
