Kingston Health Sciences Centre’s (KHSC) Kingston General Hospital (KGH) site has been ranked as one of the top 40 hospitals in the country according to Newsweek magazine. The ranking, as part of Newsweek’s ‘World’s Best Hospitals’ list announced last week, included the KGH site at 37 overall in Canada.

Newsweek’s ranking looked at a total of 1000 hospitals across more than 27 countries. In Canada, 66 of the 1,200 hospitals in the country received a rank. Hospitals were ranked by panels of medical experts, physicians and health-care administrators. The results were also based on patient satisfaction scores and key performance indicators from each country.

“This ranking shows that despite being a smaller city, Kingston is really punching above its weight in both Canada and on the world stage,” says KHSC President and CEO Dr. David Pichora. “In fact, many of the hospitals ahead of us on the list are located in much bigger communities such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. This ranking is a testament to not only our key academic partnership with Queen’s University, but also the skill and dedication of staff and physicians across the organization.”

This is the second top-40 ranking for KHSC this year as the organization was also ranked as one of the best research hospitals in the country by Research Infosource.

“Between this Newsweek ranking which focuses on acute patient care, and our ranking as a top research hospital earlier this year, we are demonstrating that we are one of the premier health-care providers in the country,” says Dr. Pichora.

In fact, despite ongoing pressures caused by the pandemic, KHSC has continued to increase the services that are offered to patients and families. Over the last two years, KHSC has:

  • Opened a new state-of-the-art hybrid operating room.
  • Became one of the few hospitals to offer new surgical procedures for patients suffering from faulty heart valves.
  • Became the first to offer portable MRI services to individuals living in remote northern communities.
  • Offered new treatments for patients with brain aneurisms.
  • Expanded diagnostic-assessment programs for people with lung cancer.
  • Chosen to be one of only four Infectious Disease Sequencing labs in Ontario to lead the COVID-19 genomic surveillance initiatives for new emerging variants of concern.

This, all while caring for large numbers of COVID patients from across the province and running new COVID assessment and vaccine clinics.

“Our ability to continue to expand our services and innovate across our entire organization, all while navigating staff shortages during a pandemic is a real credit to our health-care teams,” says Dr. Pichora. “I am incredibly proud of this recognition and everyone at KHSC that made this possible.”

Community support has also been critical in KHSC’s achievements in improving patient care to the more than 500,000 people it serves.

“Each year our donors contribute millions of dollars to support innovations in care, new equipment, staff training and upgrading Kingston’s health-care facilities,” says Tom Zsolnay, President and CEO of the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation. “Our generous donors have had a direct impact on this achievement by KHSC and will continue to play a vital role in the evolution of health care in Kingston as we move towards the construction of new state-of-the-art facilities at the KGH site”. 

To see the Newsweek rankings, visit: https://www.newsweek.com/worlds-best-hospitals-2022/canada