Sault Area Hospital continues to be plagued by capacity pressures – strains bound to only balloon as the upcoming respiratory season hits full stride.

“We have consistently greater than 300 in-patients in our facility and we struggle currently with a considerable number of alternate level of care patients,” SAH president and CEO Ila Watson told board members and senior staff Monday evening.

At the end of September, SAH housed 79 ALC patients, “which is quite high for us,” Watson said.

Forty-nine of these patients, who no longer require acute care but cannot be safely discharged without appropriate support, were waiting for long-term care placements.

“Then patients who have other destinations or other care needs form the balance of that number,” Watson said.

Monday’s message to the

See Full Page