COVID-19 hospital stays cost 3 times more than a stay for heart attack: CIHI

Toronto - The estimated average cost of a hospital stay for COVID-19 is more than $23,000. This includes both intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU admissions. New data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows that a COVID-19 hospital stay costs about three times more than for heart attack ($7,000) or pneumonia ($8,000), four times more than the cost of a stay for influenza (approximately $5,000) and almost as much as a kidney transplant ($27,000). People who have COVID-19 remain in the hospital about twice as long as the average pneumonia patient (15 days and 7 days, respectively), and a larger proportion of them are admitted to the ICU and ventilated. READ: QUIZ: What do you know about COVID booster shots? “COVID-19 patients tend to be sicker and to have longer hospital stays. The data reinforces that the virus can cause a serious illness and not simply a bad flu. Almost 1 in 4 hospitalized COVID-19 patients are admitted to the ICU and 1 in 5 die in the facility,” said Nathalie Robertson, manager, financial standards and information for CIHI. Estimated costs stays The estimated total cost of COVID-19 hospital stays in Canada (excluding Quebec) was almost $1 billion in 2020–2021, tripling between November 2020 and March 2021. A COVID-19–related hospitalization with ICU admission is estimated to cost over $50,000—more than 3 times the cost of a stay without ICU admission ($15,000). By comparison, the average cost of an ICU admission for pneumonia is $22,000 and for heart attack is $8,400. More detailed information about COVID-19 hospitalizations and emergency department visits is also available. Hospital spending last year Before the pandemic began, Canadian hospitals (excluding Quebec and Nunavut) spent more than $55 billion in 2019–2020. Compensation was the largest spending area at 64%, followed by supplies (11%). You can find more information on hospital spending in 2019–2020, including per capita data and provincial/territorial breakdowns, on our website. These figures reflect the most recent information available from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. Cost estimates for COVID-19 and other common hospitalizations are forecasted values.—from a CIHI press release

COVID-19 hospital stays cost 3 times more than a stay for heart attack: CIHI

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