By Lyndsay Aelick and Dan Bertrand
Published: February 07, 2026 at 5:45PM EST
Ontario’s Official Opposition held a press conference at Queen’s Park on Thursday, alleging that provincial government policies are exacerbating a crisis in hospitals, leading to dangerous patient overcrowding and mounting institutional debt.
New Democrat MPPs France Gélinas and Dr. Robin Lennox, the party’s shadow ministers for health and primary care, warned that chronic underfunding is forcing patients into hallways and other unconventional spaces for care.
“People in this province are being forced to wait for care in places that were never meant to be treatment spaces,” said Dr. Lennox, in a news release.
“That is what happens when a government knowingly underfunds hospitals year after year.”
— Hamilton Centre MPP Dr. Robin Lennox
Government to stop publicly tracking hallway medicine
The press conference addressed the government’s plan to retire several key performance indicators from Ontario Health’s annual public reports, including the metric tracking patients treated in unconventional spaces.
“The government has, to be honest, keep track of those. We are talking, like, close to 2,000 Ontarians that are sick enough to be admitted into a hospital that will end up in a hallway, in a TV room, in a bathroom, in anywhere but, hospital room,” said Nickel Belt MPP Gélinas.
Learn more at CTV News
