West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby is in the spotlight today.
During Question Period today at Queen's Park, NDP MPP for Hamilton East - Stoney Creek, Paul Miller, demanded the Wynne government take immediate action at the hospital.
Miller says an NDP investigation found the hospital is operating in dangerously overcrowded conditions.
He says both the Liberals and the Conservatives have a disappointing record when it comes to health care in West Niagara.
He says thousands of people had to rally in the 1990s to stop the Conservatives from shutting down West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, and they had to rally again, in 2012, when the Liberals cancelled the new hospital redevelopment project.
Miller says today, the hospital is still in desperate need of replacement and they are hearing about serious challenges in the Emergency Department.
Through Freedom of Information, New Democrats have learned that medical and surgical beds at West Lincoln Memorial have been operating at over 100 percent capacity for the past 12 months straight.
“Why is this Liberal government forcing hospitals like West Lincoln Memorial to become dangerously overcrowded – and forcing patients to pay the price?” asked Miller.
The local LHIN says medical and surgical beds should have a maximum occupancy of 85 to 90 percent.
Under the Liberal government, West Lincoln’s medical and surgical beds have been forced to operate at over 100 percent capacity for 23 of the last 30 months. And this past September, the occupancy rate soared to over 120 percent.
Minister of Health and Long Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins responded to Miller's concerns saying that the Liberals have committed an additional 140 million dollars for heath care and some of that funding will make its way to West Niagara.
He says they have received a proposal from Hamilton Health Sciences regarding plans for the hospital.
Hoskins questions the timing of the issue being brought up, with a by-election Thursday in Niagara West-Glanbrook.