NIAGARA, ON. - A new consumer website is helping Niagara residents learn more about how hospitals in Ontario are performing. Unveiled today,myhospitalcare.ca gives Ontarians an unprecedented opportunity to learn more about how their local hospitals are performing by location, type of care, indicator, or hospital name.
"By making hospital performance information easy for people to access, myhospitalcare.ca is empowering patients and helping hospitals become even more accountable than they already are," says Tom Closson, President and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA).
The Niagara Health System (NHS) has been regularly updating its website for some time with new performance indicators, including infection control rates and wait times for diagnostic tests. The Quality and Performance section of the website was also recently updated to include patient satisfaction indicators, and the NHS will continue to provide as much information as possible to educate the public. Much of this information goes above and beyond the public reporting standards set for hospitals in Ontario.
"The NHS encourages people to get more involved in their healthcare by accessing the Quality and Performance section of our website for key hospital performance measures," says Debbie Sevenpifer, President and CEO of the NHS.
"Ontario hospitals are leaders in public accountability and transparency, and the NHS will continue to support the efforts and leadership of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the OHA in ensuring as much information as possible is publicly available to consumers," says Mrs. Sevenpifer. "We welcome the OHA’s new myhospitalcare.ca initiative. Many of these performance indicators have been on our NHS website for some time, and we are pleased that this user-friendly OHA website is available for use as a public education tool about all hospitals in Ontario."
Like all public reporting on health system performance, both the OHA and NHS websites strive to inspire improved performance, enhance patient safety and strengthen the public’s confidence in Ontario’s hospitals. It is important to note that patients should not use myhospitalcare.ca as a guide to choosing a hospital.
Caroline Bourque Wiley
Consultant, Public Affairs
905-378-4647, ext. 43113
cwiley@niagarahealth.on.ca
