Quality Framework for Public Health Units

In 2005, the Ontario Council on Community Health Accreditation (OCCHA) established a standing committee of the OCCHA Board of Directors for continuous quality improvement (CQI).   The purpose of this committee is to improve OCCHA’s ability to encourage and facilitate organizational excellence and ongoing quality of practice in public health.    To support this objective, OCCHA also established a CQI Advisory Group.  Membership on this group is open to all public health units in Ontario.   Currently, nineteen of the thirty-six health units are represented on this group.

The primary focus of the CQI Advisory Group has been the development of a quality framework for public health units.  A review of continuous quality improvement initiatives was conducted and considered during the framework development process.  The OCCHA Quality Framework for Public Health Units  is based on the concept of a continuous improvement cycle and is consistent with the OCCHA accreditation standards.  The quality framework overview, provides an outline of the framework, its components and its link with the accreditation standards.    Although the framework is consistent with the accreditation standards, its purpose is to promote a culture of continuous quality improvement in all health units.  The CQI Advisory Group will be developing processes and/or mechanisms to support public health units in their implementation of this framework.