Orangeville, ON, April 16, 2009 - A new consumer website is helping Dufferin and Caledon residents learn more about how their local area hospitals are performing.

Unveiled for the first time today, www.myhospitalcare.ca gives Ontarians an unprecedented opportunity to learn more about how their local hospitals are      performing by location, type of care, indicator, or hospital name.

“By making hospital performance information easy for people to access, myhospitalcare.ca is empowering patients and helping hospitals become even   more accountable than they already are,” says Tom Closson, President and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association.

Headwaters Health Care Centre has long been committed to public accountability and transparency and is pleased to have this new site designed with the average person in mind.

“Tracking safety indicators and patient satisfaction helps us improve delivery of care and services that better meet the needs of our patients. On myhospitalcare.ca you can see our emergency wait-times already exceed the provincial target,” says Cholly Boland, President and CEO of Headwaters Health Care Centre. “Tracking risks and preventing them keeps patients safer, at Headwaters Shelburne the hospital uses patient safety indicators to track patient falls and found using low beds and lowering bed rails reduces the risk of falls for complex continuing care patients.”

Patients rarely access existing hospital performance information, and when they do, they often find it very technical and difficult to understand. However, it is clear that patients want to know more – and understand more – about their hospitals so that they can actively manage their own health care. myhospitalcare.ca is about involving patients.

myhospitalcare.ca is designed solely as a public education tool. Patients should not use the site as a guide to choosing a hospital.

Like all public reporting on health system performance, this site strives to inspire improved performance, enhance patient safety and strengthen the public’s confidence in Ontario’s hospitals.

The public is invited to provide comments and suggestions about hospital services. Please contact Cholly Boland, President and CEO, Headwaters Health Care Centre at 519-941-2702 ext. 2200.

Headwaters Health Care Centre
Headwaters Health Care Centre serves more than 110,000 residents in Caledon, Orangeville, Shelburne and Dufferin County. The hospital operates two sites – Headwaters Orangeville, a 108 bed acute care hospital and Headwaters Shelburne, a 33 bed chronic care hospital. Visit www.headwatershealth.ca.