Sudbury hospital at 120% capacity: ‘We’re too small,’ says CEO

Sudbury's Health Sciences North routinely operates at 110-120% capacity, forcing more than 100 patients into hallways daily.

Health Sciences North (HSN) in Greater Sudbury has long-term plans to address its overcrowding.

Capacity last week was at 120 percent with a total of 637 patients. The hospital’s president and CEO, David McNeil, said the 528 normal hospital beds were occupied. The other 109 patients were in unconventional spaces.

“We are, what we call, in our normal overcapacity situation,” he said. “That’s a pretty normal day.”

According to McNeil, the hospital normally operates at 110 to 120 percent over capacity, meaning many patients receive care in unconventional spaces like hallways, lounges and ambulatory care areas.

“We need to expand so that we improve that patient experience and that’s what we’re all committed to,” McNeil said.

McNeil said none of the staff at HSN wants to provide care in hallways, but they all work to ensure every patient receives quality care regardless of the location of that care.

There are some solutions to help in the short term. HSN set up an alternate health facility at Amberwood Suites retirement home, which houses 47 acute patients. Plus, the Hospital to Home program which allows HSN to move patients directly from hospital to their own home without using community care.

But officials said the demand to expand is urgent.

“When we have 120 patients in any one day that are in unconventional bed space that is not an ideal location of care and there is an urgency for us to move forward on the planning of the project,” said McNeil.

The project McNeil refers to is a capital redevelopment for the hospital, a plan to grow the current site to 750 beds by 2034 and 800 beds by 2043. He added the numbers reflect population growth in the community and across the northeast.

It was announced in 2025 that HSN’s neighbours, the Idylwylde Golf Club, was going to sell some land to the hospital. McNeil said that would be used for parking and circulation space around the building.

“We’ll be excited to share some of that early planning with the community in the upcoming months,” he added.

The price tag would be in the billions, but McNeil stresses they’re still in ‘early planning’ with the Ministry of Health. It will be a phased project.

In an email to CTV News, Jackson Jacobs, spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Health said:

“To support growing demand and support patient care at Health Sciences North, we have increased funding by 44 per cent, or more than $130 million, since 2018 while investing $5 million to support the planning for future expansion, over $10 million to build a new 52-bed Acute and Reactivation Care Centre, which is already helping patients transition home and free up acute care beds and, more than $2 million to support Sudbury-area interprofessional primary care teams to connect over 5,500 people to primary care, helping reduce pressure on emergency departments and improve patient flow…

We will continue to work with Health Sciences North to ensure patients in Sudbury and across northeastern Ontario can access the timely, high-quality care they deserve now and for years to come.”

The Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas told CTV News that she hears regularly from constituents who have loved ones who received care in unconventional spaces at HSN.

“They all start the same way: the staff tried really hard to help me….” Gelinas said.

“Health Sciences North does the best they can to care for us, but it’s tough, and a lot of people get angry,” she added.

Gelinas said she’s encouraged the government is open to the hospital expansion – but she needs it to move faster.

“They move at the rate of a sleepy turtle,” Gelinas said, referring to the speed the Ministry of Health brings projects to fruition.

“Health Sciences North will put out the next phase and it takes a year and a half for the government to say ‘Oh all is good, but we have a question on page 13.’ Really? It took you 18 months to get to page 13 and ask your question?” she said.

Hospitals get a base operating fund from the ministry every year. Critics have said that envelope of money does not meet all the expenses that hospitals incur in delivering care.

“You have to remember that all of those extra patients – they’re not funded. (Hospitals are) funded for the number of beds that they have,” Gelinas said.

Gelinas said she is also concerned that the independent financial accountability officer found hospital funding across Ontario needs to increase by five per cent ‘just to meet what we have now.’

That final increase for 2026 will be included in the provincial budget this spring, but speculation is it will be just two percent per year for the next three years.