SUDBURY -- Health Sciences North is rescheduling dozens of surgeries because it is well over capacity, with several patients in hallways because there is no bed for them.

The number of patients at HSN has been steadily increasing over the summer, and the hospital is currently at 104 per cent capacity despite having 34 temporary beds at the Clarion Hotel in Sudbury.

Across the province, there are 4,500 available beds, but none in Sudbury.

“We have no hospital beds available,” said hospital CEO Dominic Giroux. "Northerners know that Health Sciences North was built too small. Unfortunately, we have had to reschedule 35 surgeries that were planned for this week because of the situation of capacity that we are seeing right now."

HSN currently has 114 alternative level of care patients -- people who don't need to be in hospital but have nowhere else to go. Many are waiting for a bed in a long-term care home.

The head of a local seniors advocacy group said long-term care in Sudbury has been an issue for many years.

“We need more long-term care homes, more care in homes," John Lindsay said. "It’s a complete picture that really needs to be looked at comprehensively and it really hasn’t been for the past 20 years. It’s not getting any better and we need to find solutions.”

There are 150 empty beds at long-term care homes in Sudbury. But in hopes of trying to slow the spread of COVID-19, those beds are not available right now.

“Currently we have 45 patients who are either in hallways or admitted in the emergency department, waiting for a bed," Giroux said. "But at the same time, we have 48 patients waiting for a long-term care bed.”

In the short term, HSN is talking with families to encourage them to look at more long-term care homes. More beds will be opening at HSN in the incoming days in unconventional places, and 28 more beds will be opening at the Clarion Hotel.

In the medium term, there are plans to open 52 more conventional beds at HSN.

In the long-term plan, a 20 year capital master plan has been put into place that includes expanding HSN. Short term, Giroux said they need to find a way to perform the surgeries as winter nears.

“We want to ramp up surgeries before flu season, and before a potential second wave of COVID-19," he said. "That is why it is important for us to have better flow of patients to long term care homes.”