Posted: May 26, 2016
Quality Improvement Interview 9041

Patients continue to benefit from high-quality care at Grand River Hospital according to a recently-released report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

CIHI has released a report looking at health indicators in Canadian hospitals in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Among the highlights for GRH, the report found:

  • 90.3 per cent of GRH patients have hip fracture surgery within 48 hours compared to 86.2 per cent average at Canadian peer hospitals;
  • Patients have a greater survival rate following a stroke at GRH compared to peer hospitals (national 30-day in-hospital mortality is 12.9 percent compared to 8.7 percent at GRH);
  • Surgical patients have smoother transitions from hospital to the community. Nationally, 6.6 percent of surgical patients are readmitted to hospital compared to 6.2 percent at GRH; and
  • GRH provides a standard hospital stay at nearly $200 less than other large community hospitals across the country ($4,941 at GRH compared to the national average of $5,142).
Malcolm Maxwell
Malcolm Maxwell, GRH president and CEO

“For the past several years, care staff and physicians at GRH have focused our efforts on becoming one of the safest hospitals in the country,” explained Malcolm Maxwell, president and CEO. “Last December, we were ranked the fourth best in Canada in another CIHI study that compared patient survival rates in Canadian Hospitals.”

Factors that have helped GRH to improve quality of care include:

  • A comprehensive falls prevention program throughout the hospital;
  • A range of improvements in stroke care at the KW and Freeport campuses, and with other regional care providers;
  • Improvements in treatment and admission times for the most seriously ill patients in the emergency department;
  • Improved communication between health care providers and patients/families when care is transitioned from one care provider to the next;
  • Improved length of stay for hospitalized patients;
  • Lower rates of hospital-acquired infections;
  • Better medication reconciliation when patients arrive at the hospital, reducing the possibility of medication errors from new prescriptions; and
  • New technology improving medication safety as part of a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment.