Royal Jubilee Hospital was forced to open up 18 beds Thursday in a part of the hospital normally kept closed.
Meribeth Burton, spokeswoman for Island Health, said the 500-bed hospital was so busy a closed section was opened up in a ward not expected to be needed until 2020.
Burton said no single cause can be blamed for the crowding.
Flu has put some people into Royal Jubilee, but it can’t be cited as the main cause, she said.
Meanwhile, the Victoria General Hospital and the Saanich Peninsula Hospital were functioning well, she said.
