The number of deaths at Burnaby Hospital was nine per cent higher than the B.C. average last year, according to data published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) this week, but the hospital has seen steady improvement since posting the worst mortality rate in B.C. and among the worst rates in Canada six years ago.
The hospital-standardized mortality ratio compares a hospital’s rate of unexpected deaths to a national average of 100 for the baseline year 2009/10.
For 2013/14, Burnaby Hospital’s rate was 90, compared to 82 for Fraser Health, 81 for B.C. and 85 for Canada (excluding Quebec).
CIHI’s new data puts Burnaby behind only Richmond Hospital (94) and Surrey Memorial Hospital (99) in B.C., but despite having the third highest rate among the province’s large hospitals, last year’s figure was an improvement on 2012/13, when the local hospital’s rate was 94, and 2009/10, when it was 108.
More than 150,000 people die in Canadian hospitals every year, accounting for 65 per cent of all deaths in the country, according to CIHI.
Last year, the six leading causes of hospital deaths were stroke, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, sepsis and heart attack. The deaths have decreased across the country since CIHI started reporting data in 2007.
“Studies show that public reporting on indicators such as hospital deaths plays an important role in improving the delivery of care and saving lives,” CIHI vice-president of research and analysis Jeremy Veillard said in a press release.
For Fraser Health vice-president of medicine Dr. Andrew Webb, however, a lot of things have gone into improving Burnaby’s number.
“This indicator is a byproduct of a number of strategies, and work to improve this is multifaceted,” he said in an email statement. “Improving patient safety in key areas, such as infection prevention and control, management of deteriorating patients, and identification of adverse events and contributing factors to care are all aspects of changing this measure.”
