Canadian Certified Healthcare Facility Manager

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You have probably seen it all, major floods, blackouts, and loss of water, this list goes on. In order to deal with these disasters along with the everyday task of keeping a healthcare facility running, Healthcare Administrators must rely on the facilities management leadership to perform at a high level and be knowledgeable and competent in their field. One way to accomplish this is to develop an effective certification process that promotes a broad knowledge base and an on-going commitment to continuous learning.

In recognition of this idea, in September 2015, the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES) launched the Canadian Certified Healthcare Facility Manager (CCHFM) Program for its members across Canada. The program is based on the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (a membership group of the American Hospital Association) Certified Healthcare Facility Manager program, a highly successful certification process for healthcare facility managers.

CHES is a national association representing approximately 1200 healthcare facility professionals and associates across Canada. CHES seeks to help members to better manage the healing environment which is imperative for efficient and effective healthcare delivery. We are a non-profit voluntary society promoting optimized planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance and management of healthcare facilities.

CHES promotes the integrated principles of design, planning, operations and business management with engineering and medical services to create and preserve a safe and effective healthcare environment. Key to CHES goals is development of the leadership of our members who will create the environment to achieve these principles.

The CCHFM is administered for CHES by Seneca College in partnerships with Colleges across the country. To be eligible to write a candidate must meet the criteria for education, leadership and healthcare experience. Once this is established by the CCHFM advisory board (which is made up of 4 holders of the CCHFM) the candidate will write an exam based on the following areas of expertise:

1. Code and Standards Compliance
2. Planning, Design and Construction
3. Maintenance and Operations
4. Financial Management and
5. Administration

The certification examination is designed to test a well-defined body of knowledge representative of professional practice in the discipline of healthcare facilities management. Successful completion of a certification examination is an indicator of broad-based knowledge in this field.

At the time of writing this article, there were 11 holders of the CCHFM, with the number expected to grow in 2017. As healthcare leaders, you can expect CCHFM holders to be highly competent and experienced leaders, with the knowledge to ensure your facilities are running safely, according to codes and standards, and in a fiscally responsible manner. CHES encourages you to promote the CCHFM as a way to ensure the best for healthcare facilities across the country.

More information on this certification can be found on the CHES website at https://www.ches.org/about-ches/certification.html