Riverside in Deficit Position

Newly released figures show that more than a third of Ontario hospitals were spending beyond their means last year.

Among them Riverside Health Care Facilities.

Sixty-one of the province's 159 public hospitals -- or 38 percent -- were in deficit at the end of March.

Riverside reported a deficit of over 951-thousand dollars.

Ontario has a zero-deficit law for hospitals, but many of the troubled hospitals have promised to balance their books by the end of this year.

NDP health critic France Gelinas says the figures should set off alarm bells for the Liberal government.

She says hospitals will have to make more cuts to staff and services to get themselves out of the red ink.

The figures were provided by the Ministry of Health and the 14Local Health Integration Networks, which reach two-year agreements on funding with the province's hospitals.