By: Lehana Thabane, PhD, Co-Chair, OHA Research and Innovation Committee, Vice-President Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Scientific Director, Research Institute of St. Joe's Hamilton and Rulan Parekh, MD, Co-Chair, OHA Research and Innovation Committee, Vice President, Academics (Research and Innovation Institute and Learning Institute), Women’s College Hospital
In 1921, insulin was discovered right in Canada - a breakthrough that reshaped modern medicine. In line with traditional Canadian values of sharing and collaboration, this discovery was made widely accessible, saving countless lives worldwide. Yet without the infrastructure, capital base, or industrial strategy to scale and commercialize the innovation, Canada missed the opportunity to build the therapeutic industry that followed.
This story carries a two-fold lesson. First, research excellence is not just about discovery - it is about impact. Health research is a powerful economic driver. Scientific discoveries create high-skill jobs, attract investment, increase ownership of intellectual property, and grow entire industries. Second, the true impact of health research should be measured by the real-world outcomes it delivers, including improved patient outcomes, system efficiency and broader economic value.
Moving Beyond Bibliometrics: Valuing Real-World Impact
For decades, research success is measured through bibliometrics like publication counts, citation rates, and journal impact factors. These indicators are widely used for assessing scholarly activity and intellectual contributions of researchers and professors. Yet they do not fully capture the impact of research – whether research improves patient care, shortens hospital stays, influences policy, or strengthens the economy.
Canadians do not experience research through journal articles alone. They experience it through faster diagnoses, better treatments, safer surgeries, and fewer complications. A study with thousands of citations may take years to change practice, while community-based or hospital-driven research with modest publication footprints can produce immediate, measurable benefits.
This is why leading health systems around the world are broadening how they define research excellence: not replacing “how much was published,” but complementing it with “what has changed as a result.” Impact now includes outcomes like improvements in patient survival and quality of life, reductions in hospital stays and readmissions, cost savings to the health system, influence on policy and standards of care, and job creation and industry growth.
This is where hospital-based research is uniquely powerful.
Hospitals as Engines of Return on Investment
Today, research hospitals are at the centre of care delivery, data generation, and clinical innovation. Hospitals are positioned to combine bedside care, real-world patient data, clinician expertise, and commercialization capacity – an advantage that cannot be replicated in any other research or clinical setting. This integration gives hospitals the capacity to generate high-value, applicable returns, which is why they serve as hubs of scientific excellence and thought leadership across Canada and the global stage.
The unassailable return on investment in hospital-based research shows up in three ways:
- First, through the health system: Research saves lives, reduces waste, improves efficiency, and strengthens capacity. When evidence guides care, hospitals avoid unnecessary tests, reduce complications, and shorten hospital stays, ultimately freeing up beds, staff time, and funding.
- Second, through the population: Patients benefit from safer and better care, earlier diagnosis, precise treatments, and better long-term outcomes. Healthier populations also translate into higher workforce participation and productivity.
- Third, through the economy: Hospital-based discoveries can become made-in-Ontario treatments, devices, and digital tools, further fueling intellectual property, start-up, manufacturing, and export activity.
Real Returns: Ontario’s Hospital-Based Research in Action
We see these examples every day.
At Sunnybrook, hospital researchers identified that Tenecteplase (TNK), a drug commonly used to treat heart attacks, is also highly effective for the most common type of stroke. This discovery was not only a milestone in clinical research but this was also an economic milestone, as TNK is faster to administer, more cost-effective than current treatments, and reduces treatment delay, which is critical in stroke care, where every minute matters for brain health.
These examples are just a few that represent a quiet but powerful truth: hospital-based research is not only an academic endeavour– it is an imperative and frontline investment in the wellbeing and health of a community.
As Ontario faces growing demand, an aging population, and tight fiscal realities, the question is no longer whether we can afford to invest in hospital-based research – it is whether we can afford not to.
Health advancement is an industry driven by progress, led by our hospitals, and powered to strengthen both health outcomes and the bottom line. Every major research breakthrough that keeps people healthier – from vaccines to imaging technology to new models of care – began as a clinical care dilemma that got translated into a research question. Hospitals across Ontario ask and answer those questions every day with results that change lives.
When research is embedded in care, the results are tangible: stronger patient outcomes, more resilient hospitals, and a health system that learns, adapts, and improves. The dividend is not just scientific prestige alone, but a healthier population, a stronger economy, and a more sustainable future for Ontario.