Acute care

Acute care for inpatients in hospital refers to necessary treatment for a disease or severe episode of illness provided for a short period of time. CIHI provides valuable insight on the quality of care, patient experiences, cost, volumes and types of acute care cases admitted to Canadian hospitals. CIHI also facilitates the collection of standardized information on acute care through databases such as the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) and the Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB).

Explore information on acute care. Browse indicators, data tables, reports and other key resources. For information on emergency department and ambulatory care, go to our Emergency and ambulatory care topic page.

Featured material

Frailty among hospitalized seniors

Release summary
April 10, 2025

Explore information and data related to the CIHI Hospital Frailty Risk Measure, an acute care contextual measure developed to characterize the risk of frailty among seniors.

Hospital stays in Canada, 2023–2024

Release summary
February 20, 2025

Explore the most recent information on inpatient hospitalization, surgery and newborn statistics, including the top reasons for hospital stays and surgeries.

Travel burden for hospital care in Canada

Release summary
December 10, 2024

Learn about travel burden for hospital patients and how it varies by geography and by the type of care patients receive.

Patient Cost Estimator

Tool
October 7, 2024

Estimate the average cost of various hospital services, costs incurred by hospitals and the average cost of the average typical inpatient in an acute care facility.

Equity in diabetes care: A focus on lower limb amputation

Report
September 26, 2024

A report on inequalities in diabetes-associated lower limb amputations. These amputations, such as of the leg or foot, are used to measure diabetes care quality, access and equity.

Wait times for priority procedures in Canada, 2024

Release summary
April 4, 2024

Explore recent trends in volumes and wait times for hip and knee replacements, cataract and cancer surgeries, and diagnostic imaging at national and provincial levels.