Premier Dalton McGuinty says Ontario's hospitals can look for some help with their budget shortfalls. (CBC)

Ontario's hospitals will get some help from the province as they struggle to balance their books amid a $154-million shortfall, but they shouldn't expect funding to be as high as in previous years, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.

"We're going to have to find ways to put more money in, but we're going to have to find ways to live with a little bit less given the impact that the recession has had, not only on the Ontario economy, but Ontario's government finances," McGuinty told Hamilton radio station CHML.

"We've been doing a lot to ensure that we can continue to fund health care at a level that meets the needs of Ontarians on an ongoing basis but it's no secret that we're going to have to find ways, certainly over the longer term, to reduce the annual increases that we've been putting into health care."

McGuinty's comments come amid figures that show there's a $154-million shortfall at Ontario's hospitals — and that more than a third couldn't balance their books last year.

According to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 61 of the province's 159 public hospitals, or 38 per cent, were in deficit in the last fiscal year ending March 31.

Only one region — Central West, which covers Dufferin County and the northern part of Peel, part of York region and a small part of Toronto — reported that it had no hospitals in deficit.

McGuinty noted Tuesday his government increased funding by about $700 million last year — well above the rate of inflation.

He also said it wasn't unusual for hospitals to report deficits this time of year, adding their books don't have to be balanced until the end of March.

Lower funding rate

Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, disagrees with assertions that funding is in line with inflation, arguing that over the last two years that hasn't been the case.

"The province is talking about [its own] deficit, but that does not explain why Ontario's hospital funding levels are so low and have been so low for years compared to hospital funding in other provinces," said Mehra.

The problem in Ontario's hospitals, she added, is not only the $154-million shortfall but a policy decision to hold hospital funding at a lower rate than virtually every other province in Canada.

"Whether there's a recession or not, patients don't disappear," she said.

"The worst thing that we could do is force hospitals into another costly round of restructuring."

There are currently two small rural hospitals that have been essentially closed, said Mehra, as well as another eight or so that are on the chopping block.

"That means that whole communities will lose their hospitals, if hospital funding is not adequate to maintain them," she said.

"We will see even more significant cuts to beds and staff and whole hospital departments, and the consequences of this are longer wait times, hospitals that are operating at over capacity or overcrowded hospitals, higher infection rates and more user fees for patients."

Forbidden from running deficits

Lack of funding is impacting birthing services, mammography, emergency departments, physiotherapy and availability of nurses, she said.

Ontario hospitals receive about 85 per cent of their funding from the province and are forbidden from running deficits by law.

Many hospitals in the red did receive a waiver, however, because they've agreed to balance their books by the end of the current fiscal year.

The New Democrats argue the hospitals can't balance the books on their own, and need more money from the government.

NDP health critic France Gelinas said the government, which is embroiled in a $1-billion scandal over a provincial agency's failed attempts to bring health records online, should get its own house in order before it asks hospitals to show or deal with restraint.

The hospital shortfalls, she added, "show lack of foresight on [the government's] part and lack of a strategy," she said.

"The health-care system as a whole needs a big adjustment, with more focus being put on health promotion and disease prevention so that it helps the entire system."

Ontario is behind every other province except British Columbia and Quebec when it comes to hospital funding, according to statistics collected by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.