This article examines issues related to sustaining Quality Improvement (QI) initiatives in a Canadian subacute care hospital and recommends strategies to address them. The authors define two levels of sustainability, the QI project and the corporate/organizational and how they influence a LEADS (Lead Self, Engage Others, Achieve Results, Develop Coalition and System Transformation) culture. The authors then reflect on the differing factors for QI sustainability and present them under five essential categories of accountability, education, communication, monitoring and reporting, and structure and processes.
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