Scarborough Health Network a leader in preventing harm

HN Summary

• SHN recorded the lowest hospital harm rate among Ontario’s large community and teaching hospitals for the second consecutive year.• 

• Its 2025–2026 rate was 1.9 affected patients per 100 hospitalizations, compared with the national hospital rate of 5.8.

• Safety initiatives include tiered team huddles, delirium prevention and barcode medication scanning, supporting SHN’s goal of zero preventable harm.

Scarborough Health Network (SHN) has achieved the lowest hospital harm rate among Ontario’s large community hospitals and teaching hospitals, leading both peer groups for the past two years. The result is based on the latest data from the Hospital Harm Project, a collaboration between the Canadian Institute for Health Information and Healthcare Excellence Canada, which measures unintended harm to inpatients that could potentially have been prevented through evidence-informed practices.

“Becoming Ontario’s safest hospital network for the second consecutive year is not by chance. It reflects what is possible when purpose, accountability, and continuous improvement are embedded across an organization. That’s what it means to be one of Canada’s top performing hospitals,” said David Graham, President and CEO.

The Hospital Harm Project tracks preventable harm in four areas: healthcare and medications, hospital-acquired infections, patient accidents, and procedures. The harm rate is the number of affected patients per 100 hospitalizations; a lower rate means safer care. For 2025-2026, SHN had a harm rate of 1.9, compared to the national large community hospital and teaching hospital rates of 5.2 and 6.7, respectively; and national hospital rate of 5.8. This means that patients experience harm at SHN between two to three times less than at comparative hospitals in Ontario and around the country.

SHN has achieved these leading harm rate results while responding to Scarborough’s rising healthcare demands, which are growing at a pace unmatched elsewhere in the province. Scarborough not only has one of Ontario’s most complex communities with a higher burden of chronic illness, it has also seen the fastest growth in emergency department visits among a population with more than 100,000 residents who do not have a family doctor.

“Despite the growing demands on our health network to meet our community’s needs, SHN has never compromised on our commitment to delivering exceptional quality care and patient safety. The plans we have put into action and practice are sustaining and making the difference,” said Graham.

“Today, we deliver more care at higher quality than any other hospital system in the province.”

Quality and Patient Safety is one of the key pillars of SHN’s Strategic Plan 2024–2029. This is further reinforced through clear targets in closely aligned corporate scorecard and Quality Improvement Plan, and performance is continually tracked from the frontline to the Board of Directors.

“Every patient deserves safe, high-quality care every time they come to SHN. Achieving the lowest harm rate in Ontario among large community and teaching hospitals for the last two years reflects the commitment of our teams to delivering evidence-informed care, continuously improving how we work, and placing patient safety at the centre of every decision,” said Glyn Boatswain, Executive Vice-President, Clinical Programs, and Chief Nursing and Allied Health Professionals Executive.

“This achievement belongs to our clinicians, professional staff, and support teams who work every day to prevent harm and improve patient experience. By listening to patients and families, learning from data and outcomes, and strengthening care practices across our organization, we are creating safer care for the diverse communities we serve in Scarborough and advancing our goal of zero preventable harm.”

Key priorities for ensuring safe patient care include establishing coordinated clinical practice, timely information, and reliable processes to prevent the occurrence of harm, such as pressure injuries, falls, and infections. One example is tiered huddles—brief, focused check-ins that occur at different levels of the organization—which create a structured, supportive way for healthcare teams to communicate. This helps to quickly escalate concerns about safety issues, and operational challenges, and drive quality improvements in real-time.

SHN’s delirium strategy also demonstrates how teams are addressing potential harm through prevention, early identification, and consistent care. Delirium prevention bundles, standardized assessments, and reduced use of benzodiazepines and sedatives help protect older adults from avoidable harm. Updated order sets, provider education, and patient resources also promote safer sleep and anxiety management during hospital stays. Additionally, SHN is part of a hospital-led research project on delirium that is exploring an AI-powered tool and electronic medical record data to identify high-risk patients who may benefit from targeted prevention strategies.

Another example of how SHN is leveraging technology is barcode medication administration scanning. Staff scan patient and medication barcodes with handheld devices to confirm the right patient, medication, dose, route, and timing, while automatically documenting each step in the patient’s electronic medical record through the Epic clinical information system. Together, this technology and standardized practice help reduce medication errors and support safer, more reliable care.

That commitment to leveraging technology to improve care and safety was recognized in August when the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society awarded our organization Stage 7 of the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model. The designation places SHN among the first large, multi-site hospital systems in Ontario to achieve the highest international benchmark for digital health excellence.

SHN’s focus on quality and safety has also been recognized through several national designations. In the summer of 2025, SHN achieved Quality Improvement Status as a Choosing Wisely Canada Hospital for reducing unnecessary tests and treatments and became the third organization in Canada recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement for its system-wide commitment to compassionate, inclusive care for older adults. While achieving the lowest harm rate for the second year in a row marks an important milestone in delivering the safest care, SHN remains focused on the work ahead. This includes continuing to analyze performance data, share learnings across teams, and invest in practices and technologies that help prevent harm. The Love, Scarborough campaign helps accelerate this work by funding investments that enhance the exceptional quality care for our community. The goal is not simply to lead the province in safety, but to keep advancing toward zero preventable harm for every patient, every day.

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