St. Mary’s General Hospital is at the top of the list, establishing the lowest mortality rate in Canada.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information’s annual report on Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratios (HSMR) compares expected deaths against actual deaths.

Any score lower than 100 means there were fewer deaths than expected, and Don Shilton, President of St. Mary’s told 570 News his hospital scored an HSMR of 66.

“We’re very pleased with the results of the report, I think it validates the approach we’ve been using here at St. Mary’s to improve quality and safety,” Shilton said. “It’s strong recognition of the efforts of our staff, our physicians, our volunteers, they all pitch in.”

Shilton attributes the good numbers to what Shilton said the hospital calls “daily huddles,” or 10 to 15 minute meetings in every department on how to improve quality. “Last year we implemented over 1,000 improvements in the organization, which clearly impact quality for patients, families, and staff.”

“Very pleased that these results validate all that work,” Shilton said.

Grand River Hospital scored an HSMR of 82, marking a third year in a row of improvement.

Mark Karjaluoto, spokesperson for Grand River Hospital told 570 News this is a very important quality indicator because it involves a number of things going on in the hospital, “Catching infections, trying to improve the administration of antibiotics in very susceptible cases, making sure that we can reduce the number of patients that are admitted to hospital, and any number of things like that.”

However, Karjaluoto said the work doesn’t end here, “Our score, I think over-all, is quite good, and it certainly has been significantly improved over the last number of years. We don’t intend to stop at this, and there is always a focus on trying to get a little bit better, because obviously it matters.”

The good numbers at St. Mary’s and Grand River hospitals have helped the Waterloo-Wellington Local Health Integration Network have the second lowest mortality ratio in Ontario, and fourth lowest in Canada.

Mike.McCulloch@rci.rogers.com