Implementation of an enterprise risk-management program in a community teaching hospital

As the complexity of healthcare and expectations of comprehensive and transparent public accountability heighten, so too must a hospital's approach to assessing and managing risk. Over a period of two years, the area of patient safety and risk at our hospital has moved from a traditional focus on clinical risk management to an enterprise-wide risk management approach. One of the first community hospitals to embrace enterprise risk management (ERM), St. Joseph's Health Centre, in Toronto, Ontario, has seen early benefits in this transformational journey. This article discusses our approach to the development of an ERM program, tools used and lessons learned.