Canadian Hospitals Receive Average of Less Than 3 Stars in Google Review Scores: Report

Canadian hospitals are earning less than three stars on average in online ratings, according to a recent analysis.

SecondStreet.org president Colin Craig said he analyzed the Google ratings of 83 hospitals across the country for 2024 and found the national average was 2.91 stars out of five—”a score that, if attached to a restaurant or garage, would dissuade many customers from a dining experience or trusting a mechanic to fix their car,” he said in a recent policy brief.

“Overall, the comments provided by patients in Canada suggest a patient population that is quite frustrated with long wait times in the system and, in some cases, the care that is eventually provided,” he wrote in the October report.

The five top-ranked hospitals according to the report were Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in B.C. with a 4.34-star rating, Valley Regional Hospital in Nova Scotia with an average of 3.77, Hôpital de l’Enfant-Jésus in Quebec with a 3.71 rating, Mount Sinai Hospital in Ontario with 3.68 stars, and St. Paul’s Hospital in B.C. with a rating of 3.64.

The lowest-ranked hospitals for 2024 of the 83 assessed, according to the analysis, were WRHN @ Midtown in Kitchener, Ontario, at 2.18 stars, William Osler Health System – Etobicoke General Hospital in Ontario with a 2.13 rating, the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg with 2.08 stars, William Osler Health System – Brampton Civic Hospital in Ontario with 2.04 stars, and Surrey Memorial Hospital in B.C. with 2.03 stars.

Craig said that the provincial averages saw Saskatchewan come in first with 3.19 stars, followed by British Columbia at 2.96, Nova Scotia with 2.93 stars, Quebec with 2.91, Alberta with a rating of 2.87 stars, Manitoba at 2.78, Ontario with 2.77 stars, and New Brunswick  with 2.65. He said the provincial average was 2.88.

PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador were not included in the provincial average comparison as only one hospital was reviewed for the two provinces, Craig wrote.

He noted that comparing the scores between the provinces is “interesting” but can also be “problematic.”

“What patients in one province might consider to be a five-star level of service might only be considered a three-star level of service in another province,” he said.

He added it was “quite telling” that the country’s highest provincial rating was “barely” above three stars.

‘Wait Times’

Craig noted that “wait times” and similar variations like “waiting time” were the most common words left in the reviews.

He said that while the term could be either positive or negative, “sentiment analysis suggests users overwhelmingly used the word pairing in a critical manner (70 percent).”

The next most popular term to appear in the reviews was “wait room,” and it saw 87 percent of users use it negatively.

Craig said the third most common term, “hours waiting” was negative in 95 percent of the reviews.

Users’ Comments

The report included comments from some reviewers, including ones that claim a loved one “almost died” or did die because of the lack of care in the hospital.

One such comment said the reviewer’s cousin “almost died” with a “brain bleed.”

“She had a seizure which we found out was a bleed, and the staff told us that there was nothing they could do. And she was just going to die. Keep in mind. She was twenty one years old. Thank God my mother-in-law is a nurse and forced them to transfer her … where she was treated and lived.”

Another user at a different hospital said they had to summon help for other patients despite being “fresh out of surgery.”

“Watched one man go into cardiac arrest in a hall and I (barely able to stand) had to get staff to help,” the user wrote. “Don’t go here for serious medical attention. They’re more of a broken bone hospital not a serious surgery hospital.”

Some users said they gave up on the Canadian medical system for treatment and sought help outside of the country.

“I had 6mm foreign body (metal piece) in my hand and visited ER had 2 doctors both checked and refused to do any treatment or operation,” one user said.

The user said they spent 10 days seeking medical assistance in Canada and ended up going “to Korea and got it out same day without any appointment and operation was 15mins start to finish.”

Recommendations

Craig made two recommendations in the report, including that governments should “strip ideology out of health care” and partner with “whoever can provide quality services” at a “competitive rate.”

He also suggested that health care funding move to “activity-based funding.”

“Canadian provinces tend to provide hospitals with an annual cheque that has to last the whole year,” he wrote. “Countries with better-performing health systems often use a different funding method … This method sees hospitals receive funding from the government each time they help a patient.”

He said it “incentivizes” hospitals to help more patients because it results in more funding.

“This shift in incentives also encourages hospitals to use the funds they receive on expenditures that help patients (e.g. hiring nurses and doctors) rather than expenses that may not (e.g. hiring another vice-president),” Craig wrote.