A municipally owned and operated long term care home has received an auspicious bit of recognition from a national accreditation organization.

H.J. McFarland Memorial Home recently achieved the highest level of accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities Canada (CARF).

“I am overjoyed to see our long-term care facility garner this recognition,” said Prince Edward County Mayor Robert Quaiff. “On behalf of Council, I extend my congratulations to the leadership team and staff. They have made tremendous progress in the past several years, and we are seeing the results of their hard work and dedication.”

Accreditation is an ongoing process that distinguishes a provider’s service delivery and accreditation honours demonstrate the provider’s commitment to performance improvement, responsiveness to feedback, and accountability to the community and other stakeholders.

“The outstanding dedication of our staff made accreditation possible,” said Kim Mauro, Administrator, H.J. McFarland Memorial Home. “I am pleased that CARF has recognized the work we do on a daily basis to maintain the highest quality of care for our residents. Accreditation will bring stability and provide a solid foundation to support the redevelopment efforts of H.J. McFarland Memorial Home beyond 2021.”

In its report, CARF praised H.J. McFarland Memorial Home for its strengths and a number of areas the national specifically highlighted include: The clean and safe home-like environment ; The quality of the nutritional services tailored to meet the individual needs of residents; The enhanced health and safety processes; The strong relationship-centred culture that focuses on respect for each person; and the experience, commitment, and compassion of all team members.

While the CARF report was glowing in almost every category from strategic planning and leadership to technology and accessibility and rights of persons served, the organization made a pair of recommendations in the health and safety category (Written reports and analysis of all unannounced fire alarm tests and mock evacuations) and workforce development and management (The organization is urged to implement written procedures for performance appraisals that address involvement of the person being appraised, measurable goals, and opportunities for development as these apply to the groups that compose its workforce).

Under the program/service structure, the Home has the most work to complete including drafting a a written agreement that contains information regarding refund policies, authoring a written framework that addresses philosophy of health and wellness for the persons served and is shared with the persons served, families/support systems, and personnel as well as facilitating post-incident debriefing opportunities and include them in competency-based training provided to volunteers.

H.J. McFarland Memorial Home is accredited until August 31, 2021, during which time it must continue to comply with all accreditation policies and procedures.

In the coming weeks, H.J. McFarland Memorial Home will prepare and submit a quality improvement plan to CARF that addresses all of the recommendations in the report.

The full report is posted on the H.J. McFarland Memorial Home website.