Study finds nearly half of Canadian hospital Google reviews are negative
A recent analysis of 1,000 random Google comments on Canadian acute-care hospitals shows 47.9% were negative, compared with 32.3% positive.
A random selection of 1,000 Google review comments from Canadian acute-care hospitals between 2017 and 2022 revealed that negative feedback comprised 47.9% of the sample, outpacing mixed (19.8%) and positive (32.3%) remarks. Dr. Dhruv Nayyar, an internal-medicine physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and a quality-improvement researcher at the University of Toronto, cautioned that the data are not fully representative, as patients with poor experiences tend to one outlet's reviews more often.
The proportion of negative reviews rose from 45.7% in the 2017-2019 period to 50.1% in 2020-2022, while positive reviews also increased modestly. Wait times were cited in roughly half of the negative comments, and about a third mentioned staff interactions. Three-quarters of the reviews were classified as “actionable,” offering concrete insights for hospital improvement.
The authors contrasted Google reviews with traditional patient surveys, which suffer from low response rates and infrequent collection. A separate think-tank analysis released in July showed average hospital scores of 2.88 out of five in 2025, varying by province.
Why it matters
Understanding patient sentiment on public platforms can help hospitals identify and address care gaps.
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