SickKids hospital is chronically overcrowded and has struggled to treat an unprecedented number of children in its emergency department this winter, say opposition critics who are demanding the government provide relief.

“This is a hospital that has run out of space,” NDP Health Critic France Gélinas said at the legislature on Wednesday. “It needs help immediately, today, and capital funding to build the infrastructure they need for tomorrow.”

Gélinas said the world-renowned hospital is in “crisis,” given that every month over the past year it has “been running above 100 per cent occupancy. February was 111 per cent.”

“ … SickKids has been struggling with overcrowding that keeps getting worse — and funding that isn’t keeping up.”

The hospital says it saw more patients in emergency in January than it has in any month in its 143 years.

Gélinas accused the Liberals of “(refusing) to take this situation seriously” and leaving hospitals across the province with a $300 million shortfall in funding.

The combination of a growing population and a “challenging winter season of respiratory illness,” has left health-care facilities “facing increasing demands,” said Laura Gallant, spokesperson for newly named Health Minister Helena Jaczek.

“Ontario’s front-line, health-care workers and hospital partners, including the team at SickKids, have been working tirelessly to continue to provide high-quality care to patients throughout flu season, as they do year round.”

Last fall, the Liberals announced $100 million for 1,200 new beds in hospitals around the province, an amount that will increase to $187 million this year. Sick Kids opened 20 beds and in last year’s budget received a $9 million funding boost.

“We know we’ll need to continue to work with and support hospitals like Sick Kids to ensure Ontarians have access to the care they need, when and where they need it,” Gallant said.

At Queen’s Park, Premier Kathleen Wynne said her government has “been very clear that we understand that increasing investment in hospitals is important. It’s why in our last budget, there was $500 million in additional funding for hospitals; in our most recent budget, another $500 million. So we understand that there is a need to increase the support to our hospitals’ operating budgets. We get that.”

The hospital says it handles the demand by close co-ordination within the hospital, and at times will transfer patients elsewhere. Staff are also working overtime. More visits to the emergency department means more hospital admissions, with an average occupancy rate of 108 per cent.

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“We have an exciting proposal before government that would address our capacity issues in the long term and enhance services to children and families in a modern facility,” said spokesperson Jessamine Luck in a statement.

“This is a long process that requires immediate capital commitments. In the short term we are working with government on smaller capital investments to address our pressures. Innovations in health care are driving advancements in child health, but modern, flexible space is needed to accommodate these.”