With a passion for safe, high-quality, patient-centred care, Samantha Salatino is excited to be the accreditation lead at Oak Valley Health.
Samantha joined Oak Valley Health this past spring as the Accreditation Lead and is part of the Quality and Patient Safety Department.
Every four years, hospitals across Canada go through the accreditation process. It’s a mechanism in which organizations can assess themselves against standards of excellence which have been developed by Accreditation Canada – the organization administering the process, and the Ontario Hospital Association.
A frontline nurse by background, Samantha is no stranger to the accreditation process. Having worked in the General Surgery, Short Stay, and Orthopaedic departments at William Osler Health System, as well as at the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario, Samantha led and helped implement quality improvement projects and participated in research projects. She quickly realized this was her passion and is now completing her Master’s of Science in Healthcare Quality degree.
Oak Valley Health is providing exceptional care every day and accreditation is a time to demonstrate the incredible care within and beyond our walls. Ensuring the organization is always ready for accreditation is extremely important to ensure our staff and professional staff feel empowered and ready to participate.
“ROP-OPOLY, a spin-off of Monopoly, was created as a fun and interactive way to engage our people”, says Samantha. “Teams are up against each other each week to learn their required organizational practices (ROPs), everything from medication use to infection control to risk assessment is included.”
The countdown has officially started as Oak Valley Health is 11 months away from accreditation! As part of Accreditation Canada’s process, a Patient Safety Culture Survey will be sent on October 25 to all staff and professional staff to help identify areas of improvement.
When Samantha isn’t preparing the organization, you can catch her hiking, spending time with family and friends and completing continuous education courses.