Hospitals and emergency departments (EDs) across Canada played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic. The data collected for these areas can provide a better understanding of resource utilization and outcomes for COVID-19 patients.
Data recently released by Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), show that from April 2021 to March 2022 there were more than 101,000 hospital stays in Canada (excluding Quebec) for patients with a COVID-19 diagnosis. During the same period, more than 262,700 ED visits for COVID-19 were reported by participating jurisdictions.
Key findings include:
- Patients who were hospitalized more recently with COVID-19 (April 2021 to March 2022) were younger (median age of 63 compared with 71) and experienced lower in-hospital death rates (11% compared with 19%) than those who were hospitalized between January 2020 and March 2021.
- The estimated total cost of COVID-19 hospital stays in Canada (excluding Quebec) from April 2021 to March 2022 is about $2.5 billion, with an average estimated cost of $25,000 per hospital stay. Hospital stays with ICU admissions are significantly more costly than hospital stays without ICU admissions ($61,000 compared with $16,000). From January 2020 to March 2021, the total estimated cost of COVID-19–related hospitalizations was over $1.6 billion (including Quebec).
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