Like most hospitals in Ontario, budget deficits and longer emergency room wait times have plagued Bluewater Health in recent years.<\/p>\n
Published May 15, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 1\u00a0day ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
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Bluewater Health in Sarnia. (File photo\/The Observer)Article content<\/p>\n
Like most Ontario hospitals, Bluewater Health has been plagued by budget deficits and longer emergency room waits in recent years, says the author of a recent report on Ontario hospital funding.<\/p>\n
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There have been deficits at Bluewater Health since fiscal year 2022-23, and a slide in average waits for assessment, then for admission, at the emergency department, said Andrew Longhurst, with the Canadian Centre for Police Alternatives.<\/p>\n
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All are influenced by provincial underfunding, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a four per cent annual increase in the provincial government hospital funding, but we know that costs are increasing at six per cent per year,\u201d he said, citing Ontario Hospital Association data.\u00a0\u201cSo there\u2019s a gap.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longer waits can mean poorer health outcomes for those stuck in the queue, Longhurst said, noting Ontario spends the least per capita on hospitals and health care of all provinces.<\/p>\n
Bluewater Health, also affected by extra demands amid the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, and a cyberattack<\/a> more than two years ago, recently announced its wait times have been improving<\/a> \u2013 thanks to refocusing on a No One Waits initiative<\/a> aimed at patient flow \u2013 and it\u2019s much faster than peer hospitals.<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it\u2019s certainly very positive to hear they\u2019ve been able to bring their wait times down in the most recent year . . . it doesn\u2019t fundamentally change the broader context,\u201d Longhurst said.<\/p>\n The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario estimates there\u2019s a $3-billion shortfall just to maintain 2024-25 service levels across the province, his report<\/a> says.<\/p>\n The Erie-St. Clair region, which also includes Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, is among the most seriously impacted by hospital deficits in Ontario, his research said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely tied to meeting the health-care needs of a growing and aging population with increasingly complex health conditions, he said.<\/p>\n Poverty, inequality and homelessness are factors in people\u2019s health, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Southwestern Ontario, those issues are significant, as they are in other parts of the province,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think what we\u2019re seeing is a lot of hospitals grappling with those issues.<\/p>\n \u201cTo put it simply, poverty and inequality makes people sick.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Housing and living wages need to be provincial priorities, along with hospital sector funding, he said.<\/p>\n Provincial funding for Bluewater Health has increased by 40 per cent since 2018, said Ema Popovic, a spokesperson for Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones.<\/p>\n \u201cThe claims made in the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives\u2019 report are misguided,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cOntario has one of the largest publicly funded health-care systems in the world, and our government is investing over $101 billion this year alone, including a four per cent increase in the hospital sector for the fourth consecutive year, to connect people to the care they need when they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ontario\u2019s health-care workforce is one of Canada\u2019s largest, the provincial system has some of the shortest wait times for critical procedures, the highest primary care attachment rate in the country, and the vast majority needing surgery get it within clinically recommended times, she said, noting 100,000 nurses and 20,000 physicians have been added since 2018.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Ongoing work includes more than 50 hospital redevelopment projects, adding new MRI<\/a> and CT machines, upskilling nurses to work in emergency departments, and allowing pharmacists to treat common ailments, while planning to have a primary care provider for every person by 2029, she said.<\/p>\n Bluewater Health ended 2024-25 with a $7.5-million operating deficit, and had plans to get to $5.8 million by March, 2026<\/a> via a Shift plan, underway in consultation with the province.<\/p>\n Further details have not been released.<\/p>\n Hospitals are required by law to have balanced budgets, but 55 per cent<\/a> in Ontario ran deficits in 2024-25, Longhurst\u2019s report says.<\/p>\n Bluewater Health recently reported the time it takes for 90 per cent of emergency room patients to be admitted out of the emergency care and into hospital was about 14.9 hours, compared to 33.4 hours at other similarly sized hospitals in Ontario.<\/p>\n