More than 153,000 people harmed in Canada's hospitals last year, study finds

One in 17 hospitalizations in 2024-2025 — representing more than 153,000 people — resulted in someone experiencing a potentially preventable harm such as a drug error, hospital-acquired infection, a “patient accident” like a fall or radiation burn or some other incident serious enough to require treatment or a prolonged stay, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

In a quarter of those cases, people experienced two or more harmful “events” during their stay. The data are based on 2.6 million hospital stays. 

The overall rate of harm has remained at six per cent for the fifth year in a row, higher than pre-COVID years. 

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Source: National Post, 9 October 2025