The provincial government says it wants Toronto's historic Grace Health Centre to keep taking patients.

The Salvation Army runs the downtown hospital, which offers palliative and complex care, but the organization told the province it wants to get out of the hospital business.

Health and Long-Term Care Minister Deb Matthews said the 119 beds at the Grace Health Centre are a vital component of an integrated health care system in Toronto.

In a statement Friday, Matthews said she's asked the Salvation Army to grant another extension to give the hospital's board the opportunity to develop a plan to keep the centre's doors open.

Matthews said she also asked the Local Health Integration Network to give the Grace board more time to come up with a plan that would keep services at the Grace, which has been run by the Salvation Army for more than 100 years.

The Salvation Army, which once ran four hospitals in Ontario, said it wants to focus on core ministries.

"We are grateful to the Salvation Army for the decades of generous service they have provided the community," Matthews said.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath said Matthews’ statement "appears to be a step in the right direction." But Horwath said she is concerned the government is "buying time" while a provincial byelection is fought in Toronto-Centre, the riding in which the hospital is located.

Horwath said the Grace Health Centre is "unique" and she would like to see Matthews commit to maintaining the hospital in its present role.