Sudbury hospital to use on-site cancer patient lodging for additional beds from province

Providing additional beds for the hospital in Sudbury is a step in the right direction, says David McNeil, vice president of patient services at Health Sciences North.

He was responding to news this week that the Ministry of Health and Long Tern Care is providing funding for 1,200 hospital beds across Ontario.

• Province adds 75 hospital bed spaces in northeastern Ontario

• Preparing for patient influx: capacity issues at hospitals expected this winter

Seventy-five of those beds will be going to four hospitals in the northeast, including Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins.

For now, Health Sciences North will get 16 of those beds, while the other hospitals will each get eight.

The additional 31 beds allocated for the region will be distributed in the coming months according to the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

Four more short-term transitional care spaces were also announced in a partnership with Health Sciences North and Independence Centre and Network (ICAN).

McNeil says the hospital in Sudbury is facing significant over-capacity challenges.

"This will hopefully ease some of the pressure. It won't relieve all pressure on our system, but it's a start."

Currently, some patients are placed in unconventional spots in the hospital, including hallways and lounges. McNeil says that number fluctuates between 20 and 30, depending on the time of day.

• 84-year-old Sudbury hospital patient waited 20 days in TV room, says Gélinas

"Many of these patients probably could be better served in other settings outside of the hospital," McNeil says, adding that HSN will have to work with the LHIN to determine where the patients would be better served, in the most cost-effective way.

The 16 additional beds will be set up in the Daffodil Lodge, where out-of-town cancer patients stay.

"We had some surplus capacity there. So we've been piloting 8 beds. We will be operating additional beds in that space and we will continue to look for other areas where we can place patients," McNeil says.

He says staff and physicians continue to do excellent work in less than ideal settings.