Target Audience & Estimated Reading Time: HPA-OHT member organization leaders and staff, accreditation participants | 5 minutes
Why it Matters
In a sector where accreditation is optional, Community Living North Perth (CLNP) has made a bold and inspiring choice: to voluntarily enter a second cycle of the Huron Perth & Area Ontario Health Team (HPA-OHT) Accreditation Collaborative. This decision reflects not only leadership and vision, but a deeper commitment to quality care and system-wide integration.
CLNP’s proactive move to participate in the previous accreditation cycle (2022-2024) helped build awareness across the local health system about the essential role of developmental services, and of particular importance, how to work together in unison as more individuals with developmental disabilities age and increasingly rely on support from primary care, long-term care, and other health settings.
Dig Deeper
Not only did CLNP move the needle forward on building awareness, but further to that, their journey into accreditation has been deeply rooted in a desire to define excellence, measure effectiveness appropriately, and make critical improvements.
Their commitment has led them to two benefits:
Internal Transformation
Accreditation provided CLNP a defined framework to assess and elevate their service delivery. By integrating tools like data dashboards and internal quality improvement frameworks, the organization experienced an unexpected cultural shift among employees. Staff became more engaged and invested in the process.
“One of the outcomes that the evaluators were amazed at was our shift in culture amongst our staff. In the inaugural accreditation cycle, there were two surveys performed – one at the beginning and one at the end of the process. Our staff really acknowledged the significance of their role and took ownership in attaining the accreditation designation.” – Susan Underwood, Strategic Initiatives Lead, CLNP
External Partnerships
Accreditation has opened doors to collaboration with healthcare organizations, allowing CLNP to leverage medical expertise and align more closely with health sector practices.
“We are not necessarily an automatic partner of the health sector, but we are very big users of the system. With the significant overlap we experience, it has been critical to build those relationships, leverage the knowledge from subject matter experts working alongside us in the Collaborative, and overall, really help us move forward on some of the key priority areas of improvement for us.” – Jennifer Croft, Executive Director, CLNP
“This alignment is especially important given the overlap between developmental services and healthcare — whether in, for example, medication management, infection, prevention and control, or supporting aging individuals with developmental disabilities in primary and long-term care settings.” – Jennifer Croft
Next Steps
CLNP’s journey is more than a success story, it’s a call to action for other organizations. Their experience shows that accreditation isn’t just for large organizations with extensive resources. With collaboration and support top of mind, even smaller agencies can make a meaningful impact on system-wide improvement.
“I think sometimes the smaller organizations shy away because they don’t think the work applies to them, but it really gave us a solid foundation to build on our policies and procedures, and overall, make our agency stronger because of it.” – Susan Underwood
“The standards put forth can feel daunting at first, yet we were able to accomplish rapid development while working alongside others. The support absolutely made a difference for CLNP.” – Jennifer Croft
The Accreditation Collaborative is actively recruiting new member organizations. CLNP’s journey is a reminder that every organization, regardless of size, has something valuable to offer.
To learn more or to explore joining the Accreditation Collaborative, contact oht@hpaoht.ca.