AUNDECK OMNI KANING— Noojmowin Teg Health Centre (NTHC) received confirmation that it has been formally accredited through the Canadian Centre for Accreditation (CCA).
“Having CCA accreditation is recognition of the organization’s commitment to developing and following good practices and processes,” says Ryan Corbiere, board chair. “The First Nation and Indigenous communities and community members we serve, as well as our health partners, can be assured that we have undergone an extensive internal and external review process that measures our practices against highly reputable standards of practice. Accreditation also opens doors to be explored by board and staff moving forward.”
After extensive work on policies and procedures, a formal CCA accreditation review was completed by a neutral and third part review team comprised of three volunteers in May 2018. The review was based on assessing whether Noojmowin Teg followed accepted organizational practices that promoted ongoing improvement, and responsive, culturally relevant and effective services to community members. The three team members spent a week carefully reviewing organizational documents and processes, completing a site visit to an external First Nation clinic, and conducting interviews and surveys with clients, community partners, staff and board. The team assessed the organization using specific CCA mandatory requirements and leading practice standards in the areas of governance, organizational planning and performance, leadership and risk management quality of services, and most importantly, from a cultural lens. Noojmowin Teg met all required organizational, and community-based primary healthcare standards.
“One of the key benefits of participating in CCA’s accreditation program is that it promotes an ongoing culture of learning and quality improvement throughout the organization,” says Siu Mee Cheng, executive director. “By choosing to go through the CCA accreditation process, Noojmowin Teg Health Centre is demonstrating its accountability to the community and its commitment to providing the highest quality programs and services.”
“The Noojmowin Teg board of directors supported and participated in the accreditation process recognizing CCA as a means to externally monitor our organization,” says Pam Williamson, executive director. “The staff were engaged and committed extensive time and efforts in the process. As an Anishinabek primary health service provider working and serving both First Nation and non-Indigenous people, we see this accomplishment as a starting point of our commitment toward ongoing improvements, and toward achieving recognition as a responsive, culturally relevant, quality and safety driven organization. Miigwetch. Thank you.”
The Noojmowin Teg Health Centre is one of 10 Aboriginal Health Access Centres found across Ontario. The organization works in partnership with all seven First Nations on Manitoulin Island to provide health programs and services including health promotion. The Centre was incorporated in 1998, and has been expanding services since then to better serve the First Nation and Indigenous populations within the Manitoulin Island and most recently, the Espanola area.
The programs and services delivered through Noojmowin Teg Health Centre are centred around the traditional health program and support a wide range of services including pre and postnatal care, nutrition, health education, health promotion, disease prevention, counselling, traditional healing and treatment. The primary health care services include physician, nurse practitioners and traditional healing.
Noojmowin Teg currently works within a collaborative model of holistic health and wellbeing that recognizes the expert knowledge, skills and resources in supporting sectors and aims to maximize the utilization of existing services through an integrated and coordinated inter-sectoral, wrap-around approach, grounded in Indigenous determinants of health, racial and gender frameworks.
