Bluewater Health continues to cope with what it calls a "Code Red" overcapacity crisis.
Communications and Public Affairs Chief Julia Oosterman says they were forced to add more beds they won't receive provincial funding for.
"We have a lot of people coming in to our emergency, we have a lot of people who have no other place to go," says Oosterman. "We're trying to work on both the input and the output and to address some of our really urgent needs we've actually added five additional beds on a short term basis. These are beds we're not funded for, but we need to meet the needs of what Sarnia comes to us for."
Oosterman says they're seeing up to 30 more patients per day come to the emergency department with a sharp spike in mental health admissions, and stomach virus cases adding to the overcrowding.
Those with mental illness who are not admitted are referred to the Canadian Mental Health Association. In a new partnership, an association representative will be at the emergency department on the weekends when their office is closed.
