Hospital administrators across the province will be waiting and watching for next weeks provincial budget, hoping for much needed relief.
The Toronto Star reporting that figures given to the paper from the Ontario Hospital Association show about half of Ontario hospital corporations exceeded patient capacity this year some reaching as high as 130 percent.
That means dipping into reserve funds to pay to open unfunded beds.
The Association has asked the province for an extra $850 million to be included in the budget when its handed down April 27th.
There are several factors blamed for the surge in patients, including an aging population and not enough long term care facilities.