CEO of COHSASA, Jacqui Stewart, hands over the four-year accreditation certificate to Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt General Manager, Theresa Wilson (right), as senior staff of the hospital look on.
Unit heads of Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt in Bellville gathered this week to receive a seventh accreditation certificate from COHSASA. This 189-bed acute hospital in the northern suburbs of Cape Town has now received its third four-year accreditation award. This signals that the facility has quality improvement principles deeply embedded in the DNA of daily hospital operations.
Receiving the Certificate, Hospital General Manager, Theresa Wilson (who has been at the helm for the past 11 years) said that the hospital benefitted from an external audit by COHSASA because it kept systems robust. It also provided an objective alert to issues that needed to be improved.
COVID-19 tested everyone to the limit
CEO of COHSASA, Jacqui Stewart, said that she had requested to present the certificate in person to acknowledge the hard work of frontline staff at Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had tested everyone to the limit.
“It was such a difficult time for everybody. This accreditation certificate acknowledges everything you did during the Pandemic. It also recognises everything you continue to do for every patient that attends the hospital. I think many people do not appreciate what the healthcare workforce went through – the nursing staff, the administration team, the cleaners – everybody. Your perseverance under great stress is a great tribute to you all. COHSASA wants to acknowledge your commitment to quality. The fact that this is your seventh accreditation tells me that quality improvement is deeply embedded in your daily activities. It’s not just a tick box exercise for COHSASA surveyors but your operational habit. Well done to your whole team!” she said.
Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt will be a candidate for the proposed new Platinum Award from COHSASA. This will be for facilities that have received at least two four-year accreditation awards. Platinum hospitals will be further challenged to demonstrate that they have an environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework to assess business practices and performance on various sustainability and ethical issues and which focus on the patient journey.
Congratulations to all at Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt!