Niagara hospitals remain in top 10 percentile
Niagara hospitals remain within the top 10 per cent of Canadian hospitals for the work of its staff in three areas ranked by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
The national organization rated Niagara Health hospitals as within the top 10 per cent for obstetric trauma with instruments, for treatment of worsened physical functioning in long-term care, and worsened depressive mood in long-term care.
The report, published last week, also shows Niagara hospitals perform better than the national average for re-admissions to hospital for all patient types, and average for wait times for initial patient assessment by emergency department physicians, hip fracture surgeries within 48 hours, and for falls and restraint use in long-term care.
In a media release, Niagara Health president Dr. Suzanne Johnston attributed the hospital system’s performance to the commitment of its staff.
“These results are indicative of our team’s commitment to our vision of a healthier Niagara,” she said.
“We are proud of the areas in which our team has excelled, and we will use this data to guide us on where we can enhance care even further.”
While ranking the performance of hospitals, Canadian Institute for Health Information also reported the top three reasons for visits to emergency departments in the past year were abdominal and pelvic pain, pain in the throat and chest, and back pain.
Patients with those ailments accounted for 18,454 emergency department visits last year — 11.7 per cent of all visits.
Overall, Niagara health hospital emergency department visits dropped last year to 157,598, compared to 161,235 visits in 2016-17.