NEWS RELEASE
GRAND RIVER HOSPITAL
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Grand River Hospital is planning to relocate its COVID-19 test site from Ontario and Charles St (the former bus terminal) to the hospital’s KW Campus at 40 Green on March 24, 2022.
“We have shifted from providing 500-600 tests per day to 30-60 tests per day over the last several weeks, and no longer require the level of infrastructure that the current site provides,” explains Bonnie Camm, GRH executive vice-president, clinical services. “The 40 Green location will support the quantity of testing still needed in our community, and provide more efficient access to our lab for the resulting of tests.”
The clinic’s last day at Charles Street will be March 23 and operations will be closed on March 24 to accommodate the move to 40 Green at the hospital’s KW Campus. The clinic will re-open on March 25 to provide COVID-19 testing for those eligible by appointment only, Sunday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
To read the criteria for testing eligibility and book an appointment, please visit: https://www.grhosp.on.ca/care/visitors/covid-19/covid-19-testing-clinics
“We are grateful to the Region of Waterloo and the City of Kitchener for making the Charles St location a possibility when it was needed the most,” says Camm. “And to our staff, including emergency room physicians for their overwhelming support of and dedication to this work. These partnerships helped to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and have made a significant positive impact on the health of the local community.”
Background:
Grand River Hospital first opened COVID-19 testing at the hospital by appointment only in March 2020, providing approximately 60 tests per day. The hospital continued to look for a site to accommodate increased volumes with minimal impact on hospital operations.
In June 2020, the clinic moved to the Region’s first COVID drive thru test centre located at a temporary site off Glasgow St in Kitchener in the Catalyst building parking lot. The Catalyst location planned to manage maximum daily volumes of between 300-350 tests, but very quickly surpassed that to provide between 400-450 tests per day.
The site was unable to support higher volumes, and offered little protection for staff and equipment from inclement weather, requiring testing to be halted during these periods.
As demand for testing continued to increase, the hospital and the Region prepared the current Charles St location (at the former bus terminal in Kitchener) to provide drive thru and walk up testing with a capacity of up to 800 tests per day, in an environment that provided space, stability, and protection from inclement weather, minimizing service interruptions. The Charles St test site opened in December 2020.
Since March 2020, the Grand River Hospital test clinic has provided more than 220,000 tests for our community.
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