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How does HSN shape up? Hit the Internet

Curious how Health Sciences North stacks up against other hospitals in Ontario or in Canada? A new website created by the Canadian Institute for Health Information makes it easier for health care professionals and ordinary Canadians to compare health
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Health Sciences North is expected to announce job cuts soon, says the Canadian Union of Pubic Employees. The hospital must present its budget to the North East Local Health Integration Network by April 1, 2015. File photo.

Curious how Health Sciences North stacks up against other hospitals in Ontario or in Canada?

A new website created by the Canadian Institute for Health Information makes it easier for health care professionals and ordinary Canadians to compare health-care data about hospitals and regions across the country.

The institute launched Your Health System on Sept. 18. 


“It's a great idea,” said Dr. Chris Bourdon, Health Sciences North's chief of staff. “I think we're in an era of transparency and we entirely embrace the publication of numbers that will assist the public in understanding the care that we provide.”

The website lists 11 health indicators for hospitals, and shows how they compare to national and provincial averages.

Health Sciences North was above average in one indicator – for obstetric patients re-admitted to hospital – on par with the average on four indicators, and below average on six.

The hospital was average for hip fracture surgery wait times, obstetric trauma, medical patients re-admitted to hospital, and patients 19 and younger readmitted to hospital.


But HSN lagged for emergency wait time for physician assessment, at 4.9 hours average, compared to 3.2 hours for the province and Canada.

The hospital was also below average for all patients re-admitted to hospital, surgical patients re-admitted, low-risk caesarian sections, hospital deaths and hospital deaths following major surgery.

Bourdon said one of the reasons Health Sciences North had a poorer than average performance for hospital deaths, is pure demographics, and not necessarily an indication of how safe the hospital is. In northeastern Ontario, obesity and smoking rates are higher than the national and provincial averages. Both rates put patients at higher risk for complications.

“The indicator, even despite the fact that it's high, does not suggest that we're providing unsafe care at our hospital,” said Bourdon. “In fact, the experts will tell you that this is not an indication of safety of care. It's simply a number that helps you understand your population and should help you drive improvement initiatives.”

Bourdon said conditions like a heart disease come with a high risk of death.

“Not because of anything we do here, but because that's what that disease does to you,” he said.

But Health Sciences North put in place measures to bring people who have suffered a heart attack straight to the catheterization lab where their blood vessels can be opened right away, and they stand a greater chance of survival.

Bourdon said a number of similar programs should help the hospital improve its overall performance in the coming years.

Dr. Yana Gurevich, manager of health indicators and client support with the Canadian Institute for Health Information, said the Your Health System website should help hospitals focus on areas where they can improve.

The website features two sections called In Brief and In Depth. The former is meant for the average Canadian, and has more easily understandable descriptions for the various health indicators. The latter section is meant for health care professionals, and includes statistics that may not be easily understandable by the average person.


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Jonathan Migneault

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