What separates top-performing hospitals from others needs further investigation. But Google scores are yet another indicator that shows Canadian patients are overwhelmingly frustrated with the status quo. Photo by Jason Halstead/Postmedia

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Our new paper for SecondStreet.org finds that in reviews they post with Google, Canadians give the country’s major hospitals an average score of just 2.88 stars out of five. Many of us would take a pass on a restaurant with such a low score, but we often have no choice when it comes to our hospitals.

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We looked at nearly 9,000 comments left by patients on Google Maps reviews for 84 major hospitals, with each having at least 30 reviews. Like most tools that assess customer satisfaction, Google scores are imperfect, but they do provide some insight into patient experiences.

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By far the most common type of comment concerned wait times — with patients often noting they waited “eight hours” or “10 hours” or longer. One patient even said, “don’t bother coming to ER if you are conscious … gave up after a 14-hour wait. Easier and faster to book a plane to South America/Europe and get treated there.”

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Seven Oaks General Hospital in Winnipeg was the lowest-ranked hospital among the 84, earning less than two stars. One patient noted, “What a terrible place to go if you’re experiencing a medical emergency. I was so happy to be called after two hours, only to be put in a room for eight hours with no doctor checking on me … it needs to be shut down.” Another said, “they are just chit chatting and we have been waiting inside for more than 10 hours with horrible pain.”

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To be sure, not all the comments about this hospital or others across the country, were negative. For instance, one user said about Seven Oaks: “front information desk very helpful. Ultrasound department very kind and efficient.” The problem is not that patients never report positive experiences with the health system. It is that too often their experience is negative.

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British Columbia hospitals had the highest average scores among Canadian provinces, averaging slightly over three stars. Though that’s better than in other provinces, three out of five does leave considerable room for improvement, especially since Google doesn’t allow users to leave a zero-star rating.

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Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver earned the highest score in the country — 4.25 stars, based on 122 reviews. A Catholic hospital more than a century old, it is now part of Providence Health Care, a non-profit provider. The hospital was kind enough to welcome our think-tank for a visit this past March to learn more about the secrets of their success.

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One important factor seems to be Mount Saint Joseph’s independent nature. It was founded, not because a government bureaucrat decided to recommend building a new hospital, but because nuns wanted to establish a facility to help the city’s disadvantaged Chinese community. During the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, this mission-driven organization again showed its dedication to helping patients, welcoming those with the virus while other facilities turned them away. Helping any and all patients is clearly part of the hospital’s DNA.