WINNIPEG — New hours for the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre will start on July 5 and see the hours it’s open drastically cut.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) made the announcement in a news release Friday morning. The hours will change from 24/7 to 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
When the doors close at 8 p.m. the WRHA said, “a physician and nurse will remain on site to complete the care those already in the centre, respond to emergency situations that might arise at the Misericordia Health Centre and to ensure the safe and timely transportation to an acute care centre of anyone who might present with significant care needs.”
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“We can’t promise changes won’t happen again.”
“All I can say is we’ll do our best to keep those services open until the changes are scheduled to occur. If we can’t, we’ll do what we’re doing today,” Dr. Brock Wright, WRHA vice president of clinical services said Friday afternoon. “We’ll do it in an organized, safe way and we’ll make sure that patients have other options and that the rest of the system is ready and prepared to accommodate that change.”
These changes come after the province announced in April that it was shutting down the urgent care centre and turning it into a community intravenous therapy clinic.
“We see low patient volumes at Misericordia Urgent Care Centre in the overnight hours. Those volumes drop throughout the night to an average of one patient per hour between midnight and 6 a.m.,” Wright said.
“In the first four weeks after the announcement we saw about a twelve per cent drop in the number of patient visits.”
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The WRHA said the low overnight patient volumes, the impact of summer vacations on the staff and “staff movement as individuals seek new opportunities elsewhere” contributed to the decision to cut the urgent care centre’s hours.
Wright says staff who would usually work the overnight shifts will be offered shifts during the day and evening.
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The urgent care centre’s conversion to a community intravenous therapy clinic is said to happen on October 3.
More than 20 doctors working at the hospital said closing the urgent care centre will have “huge impacts” on the community and released an open letter urging the province to reconsider their decision.
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Three of Winnipeg’s six emergency rooms are also closing, which the government says will help improve patient care and reduce hospital wait times. Concordia Hospital, Victoria General Hospital and Seven Oaks General Hospital will no longer have emergency departments.