Sudbury’s hospital highlights successes, challenges over the last year

Health Sciences North cites surging demand and 20% population growth for reasons why daily hallway care persists.

Health Sciences North (HSN) held its Annual General Meeting virtually on Wednesday evening, with hospital leadership delivering a comprehensive assessment of both achievements and persistent challenges facing the Sudbury-based facility. The meeting featured presentations from the organization’s chief executive officer, the chief of staff, the treasurer, the patient and family advisory council and its board chair.

President and CEO David McNeil opened the proceedings by painting a picture of a region on the cusp of significant demographic transformation. Northern Ontario is currently experiencing economic growth driven by substantial investments in mining and critical minerals development, he said.

McNeil projected that the population of the north will increase by 20 per cent over the next two decades, a surge that poses existential questions for the region’s primary health care facility.

“We see about 77,000 patients in the emergency department on an annual basis,” said McNeil.

“We are what is described as a high-volume, high-acuity emergency department in the province.”

The CEO acknowledged that in its current configuration, the building cannot scale to meet anticipated demand without provincial government intervention.

Wait times improve but overcrowding persists

Despite capacity constraints, McNeil reported measurable progress in emergency department efficiency over the past year, with wait times reduced by 11 hours.

“90 per cent of patients get out within nine hours,” he said.

“The provincial average is nine hours.”

However, the improvement has not alleviated the fundamental pressure on bed space. McNeil disclosed to those listening on June 17 that on any given day, HSN is forced to care for roughly 100 patients in what he termed “unconventional bed spaces” – including hallways, lounges and repurposed outpatient areas.

“We do have a partnership with Amberwood Retirement Home, where we provide care for 47 of those patients, that normally should be in a hospital bed,” he said.

During peak influenza and respiratory seasons, the situation becomes particularly acute. McNeil said that during that period as many as 49 admitted patients at a time are left stranded in the emergency department waiting for a bed to open up.

Regional reach

The CEO emphasized that HSN serves a catchment area extending well beyond Greater Sudbury’s city limits, with more than 30 per cent of daily patients travelling from communities outside the city.

“In cancer care and in cardiac care, that number is over 50 per cent,” he said.

“So, we work with our regional partners to create and talk about network of hospitals where we can flow patients a little better.”

Over the past year, HSN has established several notable partnerships to address regional health care needs. These include northern Ontario’s first hemoglobinopathy clinic, the Hospital to Home Program and the Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team.

Persistent shortages

From 2023/2024 to February 2026, HSN reported a nine per cent improvement in staff retention rates, signalling some relief from the workforce turbulence that plagued the sector in recent years.

“We’ve seen significant stabilization in the nursing workforce. And, you know, that pandemic and post-pandemic period, we did see a fairly significant exodus of registered nurses,” McNeil said.

However, the CEO acknowledged that certain professional groups remain critically understaffed, with medical radiation therapists representing a particular concern.

“There are some professional groups that we’re still significantly short, is a shortage, medical radiation therapists to do the cancer treatment,” McNeil said.

“It’s a hard to recruit professional group, for which we are starting to see across the systems, significant shortages, not big numbers of individuals, but really critical individuals.”

Dr. Pankaj Bhatia, the hospital’s chief of staff, announced that HSN had successfully recruited 40 new physicians over the past year.

“That includes 23 specialists across areas such as surgery, medical imaging and psychiatry, as well as 17 physicians specializing in family medicine,” said Bhatia.

“Importantly, 20 of these new physicians completed their medical training at NOSM University.”

Future priorities

Looking ahead, HSN’s leadership outlined several strategic priorities for the coming years. The organization said it is planning a capital expansion project, alongside the introduction of a surgical robotics program and the development of a hybrid operating room.

Leadership emphasized that these initiatives reflect HSN’s dual commitment to addressing immediate capacity constraints while positioning the institution to deliver increasingly sophisticated medical care to the growing population it serves.