The number of patients being treated in hospital hallways will continue to rise as Ontarians wait for more nursing home beds promised by the provincial government to come on stream, the Financial Accountability Office says in a new report.“In the absence of other health sector changes, the problem of hallway health care will get worse over the next two years,” warns the 31-page document released Wednesday.Ending hallway health care was a key promise of Premier Doug Ford’s government, with Ford himself saying last summer that it would be eliminated in a year but Health Minister Christine Elliott later saying the effort will take longer.She acknowledged again Wednesday that hospital patients waiting for long-term care beds are contributing to the problem of hallway health care because this means backlogs for emergency room patients requiring admission for acute care.“There’s a lot of work we need to do to help get people out of hospitals,” Elliott said as she announced Ontario’s flu shot program.Despite the Ford government’s promise of 15,000 new nursing home beds, the wait list for long-term care will also increase over the next five years, the report says. It projects 55,000 more nursing home beds will be needed by 2034.“Our senior population is increasing rapidly,” Elliott said. About half the 15,000 new beds have been allocated and the rest could open by 2024 if the government allocates them by next March, the financial accountability office said. Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1
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