Ontario hospitals owed private banks $70 million last year — and one wasn’t sure it could even keep operating

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“Access to credit is a common treasury management tool used by large healthcare organizations to support liquidity and maintain financial stability,” Easton said in an email, adding the hospital “maintains ongoing discussions” with the province about financial pressures.

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Among the hospitals that increased their borrowing capacity from last year was the Ottawa Hospital (TOH), which increased its operating lines of credit to $120 million in 2026, up from $24 million in 2025.

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“Having sufficient line of credit as a liquidity buffer is a standard industry best practice of managing financial risks actively and does not warrant any funding issues,” TOH spokesperson Michaela Schreiter said in an email.

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“TOH recognizes the importance of minimizing the interest burden on taxpayers. Hence, the hospital manages its working capital prudently and draws on the line of credit only when needed,” she added. As of March 2026, it had not drawn on this line of credit.

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The Ottawa Hospital has increased its borrowing capacity over the last year. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

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Scarborough Health Network arranged for a new $120-million operating line of credit, and North York General Hospital took out a new $60-million loan to finance day-to-day operations, the financial records show.

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In a response to questions, Scarborough Health Network spokesperson Leigh Duncan said it is “one of Ontario’s most efficient hospital systems,” and “continues to experience significant growth and demand pressures.”

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“Any borrowing capacity available to the organization is a financial management tool that helps ensure continuity of operations and patient care while we work within existing funding structures,” Duncan said.

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North York General Hospital did not respond to requests for comment.

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Strathroy Middlesex General, which worried about its ability to operate, cited an accumulated deficit of over $24 million and an increased use of credit lines.

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“As a result, there is material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the hospital’s ability to continue as a going concern,” read the hospital’s financial statements.

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Julie McBrien, CEO of Middlesex Hospital Alliance, which Strathroy Middlesex General belongs to, declined to comment on the specifics of the hospital’s financials, but said the hospital system “continues to navigate significant system pressures while remaining focused on delivering safe, high-quality care.”

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Len Brooks, professor emeritus of business ethics and accounting at the University of Toronto, told the IJB that hospitals borrowing from banks “is not unreasonable” given that the province itself operates in a deficit.

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“There’s lots of good work that can be done if hospitals have funds in the short run, even if sourced from banks,” said Brooks. “It might be a very good thing for them from the perspective of patients.”

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The problem, says Brooks, is when hospitals routinely cite chronic, structural deficits as reasons for borrowing, which means they are routinely spending more than they are taking in.

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“That signals to the government that there’s something to watch for and to look into.”

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Health-care workers say ongoing deficits are being felt across hospital floors.

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Dr. Raghu Venugopal, an emergency physician who works across three Toronto hospitals, told reporters that despite the uptick in provincial funding, things are “worse than ever before.”

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“Hospital budgets are literally the issue of life and death,” he says. “One of the markers that can’t lie is the number of hallway stretchers, and that’s just metastasized like cancer.”