TORONTO – The province is creating 1,200 new beds in hospitals across Ontario in an effort to address overcrowded wards.
As part of that effort, the government is reopening two shuttered Toronto hospital sites — the Humber River Hospital’s Finch Site and the University Health Network’s Hillcrest site — to create a total of 225 beds.
Both aging hospital sites were closed in recent years and patients and staff were transferred to newer facilities.
The reopened sites will be used to care for alternate level of care patients, many of whom are waiting in hospital for a bed in a long-term care facility.
The province will spend $140 million on its plan to create more hospital beds and home care services.
Health Minister Eric Hoskins said last month he had asked hospitals and local health officials across Ontario to come up with plans to alleviate bed shortages in their communities.