It's only six months old, but a new state-of-the-art hospital in the Comox Valley is already coming under fire for being over capacity.

Union executives at the North Island Hospital in Courtenay say their members are concerned that the hospital hit its patient capacity on opening day last fall – and hasn't changed since.

"For today, for example, we understand there are 178 patients in the hospital which is considerably more than the 129 beds that the hospital is funded for," said Hospital Employees' Union spokeswoman Jennifer Whiteside.

Island Health acknowledges high patient volumes at the hospital and says they're due to "a variety of factors including the impact of moving into a new facility."

The union says there are too few employees to deal with the overflow and many of the 50 extra patients are being treated in the facility's hallways.

"We see hallway medicine happening," said Whiteside. "We see patients in stretchers in hallways or in rooms that were not designed to actually house patients."

What's worse, the union says, is that rooms designed for patient care are instead being used for other purposes.

"There's a whole wing on the fourth floor that's not open to patients. They have offices. They are using patient rooms for offices," said Whiteside.

In a statement, Island Health said "When surges in patient volumes occur, we never turn anyone away. We adjust staffing levels to support patient volumes."

Courtenay's mayor is also objecting to the patient rooms going unused.

"I agree with the hospital union on that and I would say that 90 per cent of the public would agree with that as well, it doesn't make sense," said Larry Jangula.

He's suggesting that the hospital alleviate patient overloads by moving elderly extended care patients back to St. Joseph's Hospital in Comox.

Island Health said it appreciates the efforts of staff at the facility who are dealing with the surge of patients.