A balanced scorecard

Hospital care is complex. It involves providing quality care to patients with a wide range of illnesses and injuries and differing expectations and needs. Therefore, this report does not have a single, overall, score for each hospital. Instead, it looks at four important areas of hospital performance that are described here. For the first time, the report also includes a special feature on women's health care in Ontario hospitals.

***** = Above Average **** = Somewhat Above Average  *** = Provincial Average
** = Somewhat Below Average *  = Below Average   NR = Non-Reportable    N/A = Not Applicable

What patients say about their stay in hospital, including opinions about:

• Overall quality of care
• Care received from doctors, nurses, and other health professionals
• Housekeeping and food services in the hospital

How patients fare during and after their hospital stay, for example:

• Access to specific medical technologies
• How long patients stay in hospital
• How often patients experience complications of care in hospital or have to return unexpectedly to hospital after they leave

What resources Ontario hospitals have and how they are used, including:

• Whether hospitals are running surpluses or deficits
• How much hospitals spend on computer systems, x-ray machines, and other equipment
• How much staff time is spent on patient care

Whether hospitals partner with community agencies and update their practices, for example:

• How hospitals work with other health care organizations
• Whether hospitals are using information technology to support patient care
• What patients think about the coordination of their care while they are in hospital and after they leave

The Hospital Regions
Region 4 (Central West) includes Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, and communities from Simcoe through to Niagara
Region 5 (West) includes London, Windsor, and communities from Grey and Bruce through to Kent