AAHA Accreditation

When the concept of Fifth Avenue Veterinary Clinic was conceived, our vision was to become Dufferin County’s first American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) accredited practice. But what does this mean? AAHA is a prestigious association that sets intensive quality-control standards against which to measure veterinary practices. Accreditation by AAHA is voluntary, and has only been achieved by 7% of veterinary practices throughout Canada. The standards address 900 items in addition to those covered by our accreditation with the College of Veterinarians of Ontario. To achieve and maintain our accreditation, we have to undergo regular and rigorous inspection of our facilities, protocols, services and care levels, in much the same way as ISO certification operates. In addition, AAHA requires that the entire team commits to the pursuit of extensive continuing education to ensure that our standards of care provided by our practice are kept as current as possible.

The inspection and accreditation process covers areas such as:

• Client Service
• Client Communication
• Continuing Education
• Team Training
• Human Resources
• Minimizing Ecological Impact
• Referral Standards
• Health & Safety
• Medical Records
• Electronic Medical Records -Organization, Confidentiality, Security, and Integrity, Standardization of Medical Nomenclature, Incidence Reporting
• Facility quality
• Housekeeping and Maintenance
• Digital Radiography Standards including Diagnostic Imaging Evaluation
• Dental Radiography
• Ultrasonography
• Laboratory Equipment and Quality Controls
• Prescription and Dispensing of Medications, Hazardous Medications, Adverse Medication Events
• Quality of Care
• Anesthesia – Patient Monitoring, Anesthetic Emergencies, Anesthetic Equipment and Supplies
• Contagious Disease – Disease Control (Between Animals and Humans), Isolation Room, Hospital-acquired Infection Prevention
• Dentistry
• Emergency and Critical Care
• Pain Management
• Examination and Assessment
• Hospitalization
• Fluid Therapy
• Quality Improvement
• Nutrition
• Safe Animal Handling
• Surgery – Patient and Sterile Field Preparation, Surgical Attire, Surgical Team Preparation, Surgical Instruments and Equipment, Surgical Pack Preparation, Surgical Suites

We are very proud of this significant achievement, which officially recognizes the core philosophies on which Fifth Avenue Veterinary Clinic was built and under which we have been operating since we opened. As in the past we will continue to endeavour to earn your trust by providing the best possible care for your pet with your family’s lifestyle, beliefs and financial situation in mind.