Olivia Ostrow

Chief Quality Officer, The Hospital for Sick Children
Co-Director, SickKids Choosing Wisely Program

Project Investigator, SickKids Research Institute

Director, Department of Paediatrics Co-Learning in Quality Improvement Curriculum Course

Dr. Olivia Ostrow was appointed Chief Quality Officer at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada in July 2025 following her 8 year tenure as Medical Safety Leader. Ostrow joined SickKids in January 2012 as a staff physician in the Division of Emergency Medicine and has served as Director of Quality for Emergency Medicine since 2020. 

Research

Ostrow's research interests focus in Quality Improvement (QI) and Patient Safety science, including resource stewardship and it’s intersection with patient safety to support high-value care for children in acute care settings, including the emergency department (ED). 

Education and experience 

• 2017: Health Services Leadership for Practitioners Program, Ted Rogers School of Health Services Management, Ryerson
• 2015: Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Advanced Certificate, Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPS), University of Toronto
• 2012 — Present: Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 2007 — 2011: Staff Physician, Department of Emergency and Hospital Medicine, White Plains Hospital Center, White Plains, NY, USA
• 2002: Doctorate of Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

Achievments 

• 2026: Pediatric Chairs of Canada (PCC) Academic Leadership in Quality Improvement Award
• 2022: Outstanding Clinical Contribution Award, The Department of Paediatrics. The Hospital for Sick Children
• 2017: Partner Relations Achievement, Commitment, and Excellence (ACE) Award, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Toronto, ON, Canada.

1. Schonfeld D, Gardner K, Willemsen MA, Ostrow O. (2024). Reducing unnecessary investigations in paediatric seizures in the emergency department. BMJ 2024;385:e076814 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-076814.
2. Ostrow O, *Prodanuk M, Foong Y, *Singh V, *Morrissey L, Harvey G, Campigotto A, Science M. Decreasing Misdiagnoses of Urinary Tract Infections in a Pediatric Emergency Department. Pediatrics 2022; e2021055866. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-055866
3. Ostrow O, Savlov D, Richardson SE, Friedman JN. Reducing unnecessary respiratory viral testing to promote high value care. Pediatrics. 2022; 149(2):e2020042366. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-042366. 
4. Chartier LB, *Jalali H, Seaton MB, Ovens H, Borgundvaag B, McLeod SL, Dainty KN, Ostrow O. Qualitative evaluation of a mandatory provincial programme auditing emergency department return visits. BMJ Open. 2021;11(4):e044218.  doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044218.
   https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/11/4/e044218
5. Chartier LB, Ovens H, Hayes E, Davis B, Calder L, Schull M, Dreyer J, Ostrow, O. (2021). Improving Quality of Care Through a Mandatory Provincial Audit Program: Ontario’s Emergency Department Return Visit Quality Program. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 77(2), 193–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2020.09.449

Funding 

• 2023 — 2028: Low-value care and variation in practice in the care of children hospitalized with bronchiolitis in Canada, Co-Investigator, CIHR, $761,715 CAD.
• 2022 — 2026: Renal ultrasound after first febrile UTI in hospitalized children: reducing overdiagnosis and cascade effects, Co-Investigator, CIHR, $527,851 CAD.
• 2022 — 2025: Renal ultrasound after first febrile UTI in hospitalized children: reducing overdiagnosis and cascade effects, Co-Investigator, The Physician Services Incorporated (PSI) Foundation, $250,000 CAD.
• 2018 — 2019: Ontario Emergency Department Return Visit Quality Program Qualitative Evaluation, Co-Investigator, Health Quality Ontario, $25,000 CAD.