North York General Hospital Top Performer in the GTA

Rates of Preventable Deaths Lowest Among Neighbouring Hospitals

TORONTO, Dec. 13, 2012 /CNW/ - North York General Hospital (NYGH) has the lowest rate of preventable deaths among all Greater Toronto Area (GTA) hospitals according to the latest data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

The CIHI report released today, on hospital standardized mortality ratios (HSMR), shows that fewer patients are dying in hospitals across Canada and all hospitals in the GTA have made significant progress in this area. With an HSMR rate of 70, North York General Hospital is the top performer in the GTA. A score greater than 100 means an above-average rate, while a score lower than 100 suggests a below-average rate.

"Our patients and community should know that NYGH puts our patients first in everything we do.  An important part of that is providing the safest, high-quality care possible," said Dr. Tim Rutledge, President and CEO, North York General Hospital. "We strongly support the public reporting of quality indicators such as HSMR because we believe it will inspire improved performance, enhance patient safety, and strengthen the public's confidence in Ontario hospitals.

The HSMR is a performance indicator that hospitals in Canada have been using for many years to monitor changes over time and identify areas for improvement. This year the report observed a 16 per cent HSMR decrease in participating hospitals across Canada, excluding Quebec.

"Our rate of preventable death has improved year over year because of targeted initiatives that have advanced the quality of care we provide," said Karyn Popovich, Vice President, Chief Nursing and Health Professions Executive. "The hospital's eCare strategy has reduced medication errors through closed-loop medication barcode scanning and we have implemented a computerized order entry system that ensures front-line staff treat patients according to best practices and the latest evidence."

Improving quality and safety has been and remains a major focus at NYGH. This has created a culture of ownership where everyone in the hospital is responsible for making quality improvements.

North York General Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is one of Canada's leading community academic hospitals. We offer our culturally diverse community a wide range of acute care, ambulatory and long-term care services across three sites. North York General takes a purposeful approach to meeting and exceeding patient's expectations. The patient experience is at the heart of everything we do.

SOURCE: North York General Hospital

Elizabeth McCarthy, Senior Communications Specialist
P: 416-756-6725
E: [email protected]