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An unusually virulent respiratory illness season in northeastern Ontario is pushing hospitals to their limits like never before, and forcing them to put patients in more unconventional spaces.
The regional health care hub, Health Sciences North, (HSN) says it has 10 to 15 per cent more patients than at this time last year, something president and CEO David McNeil said he has not seen before.
He pointed to more severe cases of the flu, as well as COVID and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) peaking at the same time, as reasons for the crush on both the emergency room and mounting admissions.
On top of its obligation to treat severely ill patients from across the region, there have been outbreaks throughout the community.
In a news release, HSN said there have been more than 20 influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory outbreaks declared at community, group and long-term care homes in Greater Sudbury to start 2026.
It said there are currently two influenza outbreaks at HSN — one on the Respiratory Care Unit on 6 South and one on the Cardiology Unit on 8 North.
McNeil said the pressure is ramping up.
“So typically on a normal day at HSN when we’re not in respiratory virus season, when we come in at eight in the morning, we would see about 20 patients in the emergency department waiting to get into an inpatient bed because they require admission,” he said. “We’ve seen a more than doubling of that number over the last three weeks.”
McNeil said while HSN historically operates at over capacity, it continues to seek out spaces to put additional patients.
“When we get to these periods of peak demands, we have to look for alternative locations of care around the hospital to continue to provide patient care,” he said. “And more patients are residing in the emergency department, more patients in hallways and alternative locations of care like critical care patients being cared for in recovery rooms, etcetera.”
The bad flu season is hitting the Sault Area Hospital as well, where an administrator said if it gets worse, patients will have to occupy recovery rooms, which in turn could affect surgical schedules.
As of Jan. 6, 2026, the hospital posted on its website that it was at 119 per cent occupancy, with 18 patients admitted in the emergency department waiting for an inpatient bed.
The director of patient flow and utilization at Sault Area Hospital, Lynn Jobst, said patients are already being placed in unconventional spaces because there are a number of people waiting for placement in long term care homes, but an influx of patients due to the flu is creating more problems.
She said some services are being affected because patients are taking up spaces meant for other purposes.
“It impacts our ability to support recreational therapy and physio and those types of services,” she said.
Clinics, and dining rooms are also being filled up with sick people.
Her biggest concern is if the surge of patients continues to build.
“We’d have to be looking at using our recovery room spaces and that could impact our ability to do elective procedures,” she said.
Jobst said the hospital is keeping an eye on that and would assess the schedule on a day-to-day basis.
The emergency room at the smaller Temiskaming Hospital in New Liskeard is not as cramped as the ones in the Sault or Sudbury, but people who are there are sicker than usual, said president and CEO, Mike Baker.
“It’s an interesting situation for us,” he said. “We’re seeing about two thirds of the number of people in our emergency department as we did last year. But we’re noticing that those people who are coming in with the flu are much more acute.”
Baker said as a result, admissions are up and they are seeking to isolate patients with transmissible viruses.
He said it’s not an option for the hospital to send sick patients elsewhere, because hospitals across the region are in the same overcrowded situation.
All hospitals are asking people to be patient if they seek treatment in emergency departments, and to seek care elsewhere if it’s appropriate.
