Health Sciences North had 97 alternate level of care (ALC) patients in acute care beds on Monday, Aug. 15.
Hospital spokesperson Dan Lessard said the number is higher than normal, but not unexpected.
A hospital must give a patient the ALC designation if that person is occupying a hospital bed, but does not require the intensity of resources and services they would receive in that setting.
In other words, those patients would be better served, and would take up fewer provincial resources, if they received their care in a long-term care setting, or at home.
Lessard said the higher-than-normal number of ALC patients at the hospital is due to Greater Sudbury's aging population, and a higher degree of chronic illness than other parts of the province.
“We're the canaries in the coal mine in Greater Sudbury and Northern Ontario because we have an aging population and we have high rates of chronic illness and disease,” Lessard said.
Lessard said the hospital has been working closely with the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) and the North East Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) to come up with new models for community-based care.
But he added some patients are still finding it difficult to get services in the community. Those patients end up having longer lengths of stay at the hospital, or returning after being discharged.
