Wednesday, January 7, 2026
GREATER SUDBURY, ON – Health Sciences North (HSN) is experiencing significant pressure and increased wait times as hospitals across Ontario and the country face a busy respiratory and flu season.
HSN is seeing higher demand in its Emergency Department (ED), with patients presenting with cold and flu symptoms, injuries from slips and falls, heart attacks, and other traumatic injuries. On most days, by 7 a.m., more than 20 patients are waiting in the ED for an inpatient bed. That number has more than doubled in recent weeks.
“Our teams are working exceptionally hard to provide safe, compassionate care to every patient. We see more than 225 people per day, and we do our best to care for everyone as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Jeff Middaugh, Medical Director for HSN’s Emergency Department. “Patients with cold or flu symptoms should only visit the ED if symptoms are severe, such as trouble breathing, chest pain, severe dehydration, confusion, or a returning fever. For less urgent care, options include primary care providers, walk-in clinics, or Health 811, which offers free medical advice by phone or online.”
With more than 20 influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory outbreaks declared at community, group and long-term care homes in Greater Sudbury to start 2026, this is also puts pressure on HSN as some of those patients impacted need to be admitted to hospital. There are currently two influenza outbreaks at HSN - one on the Respiratory Care Unit on 6 South and one on the Cardiology Unit on 8 North.
The capacity challenges at HSN go far beyond the high demand in the Emergency Department. As Northeastern Ontario’s specialized trauma centre, HSN provides specialized emergency, surgical, cardiac, and trauma care to people from Parry Sound to James Bay, from the Quebec border to Northwestern Ontario. HSN is also seeing more patients with serious conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, traumatic injuries due to vehicle crashes and other major injuries.
“If someone in Cochrane has a heart attack shovelling snow and needs intervention or to go to a specialist, they are flown to HSN. If someone in Blind River falls on ice and fractures a hip, they are coming to HSN for surgery. If an Emergency Department closes its doors due to staffing, those patients are coming to HSN. And we’re seeing much higher referrals from the region recently, which is also putting pressure on our hospital,” said Lisa Smith, Vice-President of Medicine and Chief Nursing Executive at HSN.
Despite these pressures, HSN remains fully operational with no changes to visiting hours. Visitors are asked not to visit patients at the hospital if feeling unwell.
“If you’re coming to HSN, you can help our teams by wearing a mask if unwell and cleaning your hands often to help prevent the spread of illness. Kindness and patience also goes a long way during one of the busiest times of the year in health care,” said Dr. Dominique Ansell, Chief of Emergency Medicine at HSN.
As of this fall, HSN introduced an Estimated Wait Time page to provide patients with an idea on how long they may wait in the Emergency Department. More information on wait times, as well as additional information on community resources for non-urgent care can be found here: https://hsn-predict.oculys.com/
It’s important to remember patients coming to the Emergency Department are triaged based on their acute care needs.