A record number of Horizon Health hospital beds are being taken up by people who require other levels of care.

A total of 652 acute care beds, or nearly 40 per cent, were occupied by alternate level of care (ALC) patients as of the end of October.

These are patients who do not require hospitalization but are waiting for placement elsewhere, such as in long-term care.

Greg Doiron, vice-president of clinical operations, said that impacts not only the health-care system but also those patients.

“We’re set up to provide acute care, not to provide long care stays where the social and health infrastructure required to support their continued daily living requirements is in place,” Doiron told our newsroom.

“So as a result, that really has an impact on our patients where they ultimately will see their condition start to deteriorate and their placement options become more and more complex as a result.”

Doiron said the reduced number of available beds also has an impact throughout the hospital, particularly in emergency departments.

He noted there are 66 admitted patients across all Horizon emergency departments on any given day.

“On top of that, it also impacts our ability to provide other types of care, such as surgery, cancer care and cardiac care, simply because we don’t have the beds required to be able to admit a patient post-surgery,” said Doiron.

Horizon said the high number of ALC patients is also contributing to this year’s projected $64-million deficit.

The health authority wants to reduce the number of ALC patients occupying hospital beds to 20 per cent by January 2026.

Doiron said while the numbers have been creeping up in recent months, he believes they can reach that target with some “concerted effort.”

“We’re looking for a myriad of strategies, increasing the number of nursing home beds across our system, but also looking at other ways to innovate in the way we deliver care,” he said, such as increasing home care hours for patients that can be discharged home.