Hospitals and the health care system entered the pandemic in a state of under-capacity and misaligned resources and services. The OHA's September 2020 paper began to outline many of these challenges. While new beds have been added over the past two years to address the pandemic and to mitigate hallway health care, system capacity is still a serious problem. 

As the province finalizes its plans for the Ontario Budget, the OHA, on behalf of the province's public hospitals, is seeking to ensure that the additional beds and related funding allocations that were made over the past two years be designated as permanent. The OHA's 2022 pre-budget submission outlines investments needed to maintain the financial stability of hospitals while they continue to manage traditional, annual operating pressures plus ongoing pandemic financial challenges.  

In an addendum to its pre-budget submission, the OHA is also recommending funding and government policy support to enable the hiring of at least an additional 10,000 registered nurses and 3,500 registered practical nurses as well as other critical health care workers over the next five years.