New data partnership to expand insights on hospital care in Ontario
Toronto, ON, June 26, 2025 — Linked GEMINI data are now available at ICES, which will enable in-depth research about patient health journeys before and after hospitalization.
The GEMINI data platform is Canada’s largest hospital data sharing network for research and is housed at St. Michael’s Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto. GEMINI securely receives comprehensive inpatient care data from over 35 hospitals in Ontario, including administrative health data, admission, discharge and transfer information, laboratory results, radiology, pharmacy records, and clinical electronic medical records.
A recently announced collaboration between health and data analytics institute ICES and GEMINI will link existing hospital data sets and patient records to provide very detailed data about patients’ hospital stays, which supplements ICES’ rich holdings about patients’ trajectories over time and across healthcare settings. This includes information about patient demographics and past health journeys, as well as long-term outcomes after they leave the hospital.
“This will allow researchers to measure and improve the quality of care for people who are treated in hospitals in Ontario and creates a world-class resource for artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, by pairing detailed clinical data with long-term health outcomes” says Dr. Amol Verma, GEMINI Co-Lead and ICES adjunct scientist.
“We are excited to partner with ICES, which has been a trailblazer in advancing the responsible use of health data to improve healthcare, and which houses an extraordinary community of scientists who will be able to use linked GEMINI and ICES data in ways we haven’t even imagined yet” says Dr. Fahad Razak, GEMINI Co-Lead.
Patient data is collected and used under Canada’s privacy laws, which protect the privacy of individuals and maintains confidentiality. Both ICES and GEMINI safeguard this information with the highest standards of protection.
The partnership will also facilitate the exchange of technical expertise and resources between ICES and GEMINI, and the alignment of technology and infrastructure, in a joint effort to build a stronger future for Ontario’s hospital system.
“This is an important partnership which will leverage and amplify the Ontario Government’s investments in ICES and GEMINI and will improve healthcare and advance health equity for the benefit of all Ontarians,” says Dr. Michael Schull, CEO and Senior Scientist at ICES.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Misty Pratt
Senior Communications Associate, ICES
[email protected]
343-961-6982
About GEMINI
GEMINI is a hospital data sharing network that harnesses hospital data to improve health and healthcare through research and analytics. Based out of Unity Health Toronto, the GEMINI data platform supports cutting-edge quality improvement and research projects.
Using established processes, GEMINI works with more than 35 hospitals across Ontario to extract and transfer routinely generated clinical and administrative data at the patient-level, including: demographics, diagnoses, clinical documentation, bloodwork, transfusions, medications, procedures, radiology reports, responsible physicians, and ICU use. Currently, GEMINI holds data on >2.5 million patient admissions, covering ~60% of all adult medical and ICU admissions, as well as paediatric admissions, across the province.
About ICES
ICES is an independent, not-for-profit research and analytics institute that uses population-based health information to produce knowledge on a broad range of healthcare issues. ICES leads cutting-edge studies and analyses evaluating healthcare policy, delivery, and population outcomes. Our knowledge is highly regarded in Canada and abroad and is widely used by government, hospitals, planners, and practitioners to make decisions about healthcare delivery and to develop policy. For the latest ICES news, follow us on BlueSky and LinkedIn: @ICESOntario
About Unity Health Toronto
Unity Health Toronto is Canada’s largest Catholic health care provider with a wingspan across Toronto’s core. The breadth of services we provide, strengthened by community partnerships and academic affiliations, positions us as a national model for collaborative, integrated, high quality care as we work to build a stronger, resilient and equitable health system for all.
Guided by our mission and values, we aim to provide the best care experiences at every stage of our patients’ health journey, from pediatric to primary care, urgent and acute care, specialty programs, seniors care, rehabilitation, long-term care, palliative care and advanced care for the most complex patients. Our strength lies in the combined expertise of our sites: a community academic and acute care hospital at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, a research-intensive academic health sciences centre at St. Michael’s Hospital, a campus of care for seniors, rehabilitation and long-term care at Providence Healthcare and a constellation of satellite clinics offering community-based and primary care. As a leading Canadian health research institution and learning destination of choice for health professionals, we are advancing health care for all united by one vision: The best care experiences, created together.