In 2016, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) joined Choosing Wisely Canada and launched the country’s first hospital-based Choosing Wisely program at a children’s academic health sciences centre. The program brought children into the national conversation about unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures.
The new report, SickKids Choosing Wisely: 10 Years of Impact, showcases a decade of research, quality improvement and education that have made high-value care part of everyday practice, and looks ahead to what’s next for the program.
Highlights include:
- Leading the way in hospital designation: In 2019, SickKids became the first paediatric centre and the second hospital in Canada to reach Level 3, then the highest status in the Choosing Wisely Canada Hospital Designation Program. In 2025, it became the first paediatric hospital to earn Leadership Status, and it is one of only six hospitals at that level.
- Scaling impact nationally: After achieving a sustained 25% reduction in X-rays for low-risk ankle injuries, SickKids partnered with Choosing Wisely Canada to create the Say Nay to the X-Ray toolkit for emergency departments across Canada.
- Shaping national recommendations: SickKids team members are championing a new national recommendation list in paediatric hospital medicine with Choosing Wisely Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society.
Choosing Wisely Canada congratulates SickKids and the clinicians, researchers, learners, patients and families who made this milestone possible.