In her Nov. 30 annual report, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk found occupancy rates at many large community hospitals in Ontario are above the safe standard.
In her 2016 report, Lysyk found occupancy rates higher than the 85-per-cent rate that’s considered safe at the hospital audited.
The auditor general said when rates get above the percentage considered safe it impacts care, causing longer wait times and increasing the risk of transmitting infections.
In a news release, the NDP said the report confirms what the party found through a Freedom of Information Act request, the findings of which they released in May.
The party said it found hospitals in Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie have reported occupancy rates of more than 90 per cent for 10 straight quarters — from 2013 to 2015. Sault Area Hospital has seen rates as high as 120 per cent.
The AG’s report prompted NDP Leader Andrea Horwath to take a swipe at Premier Kathleen Wynne, demanding, in a news release, the premier admit hospitals are overcrowded and end the freeze on hospital budgets.
