What are Ontario's Small, Rural and Northern Hospitals?

There are approximately 93 hospital sites in Ontario considered small hospitals according to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Located in small, rural and remote communities throughout both northern and southern Ontario, small hospitals are community-governed facilities dedicated to improving and maintaining the health of residents of small and rural communities.

Small hospitals are often considered the “focal point” for the coordination and delivery of a broad range of primary care and selected secondary care services to small, rural and remote communities.

Rural hospitals face a unique set of challenges in delivering health care services to the communities they serve including:

• Geographical remoteness and isolation
• Low-density populations – few economies of scale to be gained
• Demographics – aging population and special needs populations
• Lack of physicians (including specialists), nurses and other health care providers
• Reduced access to medical and other professional health care services
• Limited or no alternatives to essential services
• Decreased availability of community-based services and non-acute care resources
• Fiscal challenges where the options to cut/reduce costs are extremely limited, including decreased opportunity to manage patients on an ambulatory basis

While not considered small hospitals, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph's Care Group (Thunder Bay), Sudbury Regional Hospital, Sault Area Hospital, Timmins and District Hospital, and North Bay General Hospital are deemed regional northern sites.