Currently, 190 patients are being treated in hallways, storage closets, meeting told<\/p>\n
Published Oct 30, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 3\u00a0days ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n The ongoing bed crisis in Horizon Health Network\u2019s hospitals has led the health authority to activate its \u201cwinter surge\u201d plan months earlier than usual, warn that a \u201ctough\u201d season is \u201clikely,\u201d and reveal that overcrowding has already caused a $20 million budget overrun.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to keep reading.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite journalists.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The vast majority of Horizon\u2019s quarterly board meeting, held at a Fredericton hotel on Thursday afternoon, involved discussion about the hundreds of alternate level of care (ALC) patients languishing in hospital beds while they wait for placement in long-term care facilities or home care.<\/p>\n That blockage continues to have serious consequences, the meeting heard.<\/p>\n As of Thursday, the meeting was told, there are 190 \u201cunfunded\u201d beds in service in Horizon facilities. Those patients, said Greg Doiron, Horizon\u2019s vice president of clinical operations, are being treated in offices, hallways and storage closets.<\/p>\n That\u2019s happening despite most of Horizon\u2019s hospitals already enacting a 120-day protocol to move their ALC patients to the top of the long-term care home wait list.<\/p>\n Morning Email Telegraph-Journal<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cOur emergency departments continue to be stressed with high volumes,\u201d board chair Susan Harley, who noted that the ideal capacity for a hospital is 85 per cent and that Horizon is currently at 107 per cent, said in her opening remarks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe number of times that we have patients that have been admitted from the emergency department and waiting for a hospital bed is far too common. We simply do not have rooms readily available at all times to put these patients into. That is not the level of patient care that we want to provide.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why the board and I asked our CEO and her executive leadership team to get ahead of the capacity challenges as we approach this year\u2019s respiratory illness season. We are indeed in the midst of a crisis with respect to hospital occupancy and the cold and flu season has not hit us hard yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Harley also spoke about the lack of available long-term care beds.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo years after identifying that properly caring for a medically discharged senior patient was a priority for patient care and safety in our hospitals, we\u2019ve seen very little movement in increasing the nursing home capacity to match the level of need or discharging patients to their own homes with the support they need. We urgently need solutions for patients who are not getting the care they need, and at the same time freeing up much needed space for incoming patients in need of acute care treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Horizon president and CEO Margaret Melanson jumped in soon after, first celebrating good recruitment numbers, but then turning her focus to the ALC patient crisis, and its effect on the system.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThese pressures directly affect every aspect of our health care system, from emergency department wait times to the timely admission of new patients. Hospitals are designed to provide acute care, not to serve as long term residences,\u201d Melanson said.<\/p>\n Harley and Melanson\u2019s comments set the direction for the meeting.<\/p>\n When it was Doiron\u2019s turn to report to the board, he painted a vivid picture of what\u2019s happening by talking about the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton, where 42 per cent of all patients are ALC patients.<\/p>\n \u201cHow does that translate to the care that we\u2019re providing \u2026 in our emergency department? If you are needing emergent care here in Fredericton, there are 10 emergency bays available. (Whether you) come in with a heart attack or a broken arm, 10 of our 30 emergency bays are available.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cWhy? Because the remaining 20 are occupied by patients who are currently admitted, waiting for a bed in the hospital, but are unable to get one because all of our beds are occupied now.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will eventually be admitted. The average (wait time) is approximately 19 hours. Some patients will wait as long as two days to go up to an admitted room. But they\u2019re not always going to a room. Sometimes the space they\u2019re going to is a hallway, a storage room, an office with no bathroom, no privacy, no dignity, and ultimately, no ability for them to benefit from the environments they need to be able to properly heal physically, emotionally and spiritually.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview, Doiron said Horizon activated its \u201cwinter surge plan\u201d \u2013 which has kicked in in early December in the previous two years it\u2019s been used \u2013 in September this year because the network is trying to get ahead of an anticipated surge in respiratory illnesses. COVID-19 activity is \u201cmoderate,\u201d according to the province.<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n But Doiron also noted that \u201cwe can only control the things that are within our mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re getting ready. I think we realize that our current circumstances are such that we were expecting it\u2019s going to be a tough winter if we see an increase in emergency visits.\u201d<\/p>\n The surge plan, he said, centres around improving the flow of patients within hospitals, \u201cbut also looking at novel ways we can support patients to accelerate their discharge.\u201d<\/p>\n Those include working \u201cmore effectively\u201d with emergency medical technicians \u201cto better accelerate discharges home,\u201d and \u201cworking with our clinicians to really reinforce our ability to have those difficult (discharge) conversations with patients and families\u201d while allowing everyone involved to feel comfortable and safe.<\/p>\n Brunswick News asked to speak to Health Minister John Dornan at the legislature on Friday, but he wasn\u2019t made available.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links New BrunswickNewsThe IssuesHealth care Currently, 190 patients are being treated in hallways, storage closets, meeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-259777","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"melanson\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1030-lb-horizonmeeting.jpg\")
Horizon Health Network president and CEO Margaret Melanson is pictured in this file photo. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVEArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Telegraph-Journal\"](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.8.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tj.svg\"){kind=logo}
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