More and more people are waiting for alternate care in N.L.'s hospital beds
The number of patients waiting in hospital beds for an alternate level of care (ALC) in Newfoundland and Labrador has more than doubled in the last five months.
According to an access-to-information request filed by the Progressive Conservatives, which CBC News has reviewed, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services said 327 people are waiting in ALC beds as of May 2025. This includes seniors requiring long-term care.
That's a jump of 181 people since December 2024.
"That's a full hospital. That's not good enough," PC Leader Tony Wakeham told reporters on Thursday.
During question period in the House of Assembly on Thursday, Wakeham said his party filed a similar request in December. At the time, 146 people were waiting for alternate levels of care.
"That number is now 327 people. That's double," Wakeham said in the house.
Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell says her department recognizes the problem.
"We do realize that it's a cycle where the beds are not available in our acute care system because there are a number of people waiting to be placed in whatever appropriate venue," Howell said.
She added not everyone in an ALC bed requires long-term care placement.
"On a case-by-case basis, the care teams will evaluate these individuals and see what the most appropriate course of action is."
Wakeham believes patients waiting in a hospital bed can be detrimental to their well-being.
"Your health care will go downhill. You're not getting the physiotherapy that you probably need. You're not getting the occupational therapy you probably need, and the other services are available in other facilities," he said.
"The stimulation — you're not getting it."
CBC has reached out to NLHS for comment.
Regional breakdown
The access-to-information-request breaks down where the 327 people are across the province's five health care zones.
The majority of patients, totalling 103 individuals, are waiting for care in the western zone, with 78 of them at Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook.
An additional 91 patients are located in the central zone, with 54 of them waiting at Central Newfoundland Regional Hospital in Grand Falls-Windsor.
In the eastern-rural zone there are a total of 31 patients waiting, with 13 of them waiting at Dr. G.B. Cross Memorial Hospital in Clarenville.
In St. John's, within the eastern-urban zone, 38 people are waiting in the Health Sciences Centre and 37 are waiting at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital. One patient is at the Janeway.
In the Labrador-Grenfell zone there are 26 patients waiting for alternate care, with the majority of them at the Labrador Health Centre in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
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