During the recent by-election campaign in Sault Ste. Marie, health care was a popular topic of discussion for the candidates.
Some of the talk didn't paint a pretty picture of the service being provided by the Sault Area Hospital.
"The reality is health care is the predominant issue in any political election," said Ron Gagnon, Sault Area Hospital CEO.
"You look at how much is spent on health care as a percentage of budget, it's always the largest spent."
But what was surprising and frustrating for Gagnon, was what was being said about his hospital's service.
As a result, he wrote an open letter - something he doesn’t do often - because he wanted to correct what he saw as 'inaccuracies'.
During the campaign, a report by the Globe and Mail looking at averages over five years and it found the Sault Area Hospital has the second highest occupancy rate for acute-care beds in the province, at 106%.
Gagnon said details of who is in those beds is missing from the report.
"One of the biggest contributors here, and across the province, continues to be around the number of alternate level of care patients, who continue to stay in the hospital because they need care, but they just don't need hospital care," he said.
Gagnon said there is nowhere for those patients to go, and the hospital is forced to keep them.
The former president of the local health coalition told CTV something needs to change and she said the city needs more senior’s homes
"It’s devastating," said Margo Dale.
"It means we don't have adequate services here in the Sault."
Gagnon said throwing money at the issue won't solve it, and he added the province needs to find a way to fix the bigger issues.
He said that Sault Area Hospital has been in worse shape before and he is confident in the work that his staff is doing.
