Long wait times, postponed surgeries and over crowding. It's a familiar refrain for  the Ottawa Hospital. It's had bed shortages since 2007 -- despite adding nearly 200 more beds.

"Today we have 154 patients in our hospitals, and if they were in settings other than the hospital we'd have beds to deal with acute patients," says Gino Picciano, the Ottawa Hospital chief operating officer.

While they wait, they occupy one in four beds in the medicine and surgery units, staying 30 to 60 days on average.

Delays to elective surgeries

And elective surgeries -- like hip replacements -- pay the price.

This year there have been four times more postponed elective surgeries than last year.

"Those delays can impact the patients in quite a sigificant way," says Anthony Bella, an urological surgeon. "Quality of life (and) psychological stress for both the patient and family as they wait for the surgery."

Aging population adds to strain

Without a change, the delays will only get more serious.

"No matter how we want to describe it - we would find ourselves with an inability to respond to acute care demand," says Picciano.

The chief operating officer of the Ottawa Hospital says estimates have shown 300 to 500 long-term care beds are needed in the Ottawa region.

"We need to look at  our aging population and come up with a revised estimate, but I would not be surprised if it was in that range."\

Regional co-ordinator proposed

One proposed solution is a regional co-ordinator who could help manage hospital beds.

Doctors are also working on decreasing inpatient time. Surgical decisions like making a smaller incision could cut hospital stays by two days.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Alyshah Hasham