An Urgent Care Centre officially replaced the Emergency Room at Winnipeg’s Seven Oaks Hospital as of 7 a.m. Monday morning.
The conversion is part the province’s healthcare overhaul, which saw emergency rooms at Victoria and Concordia Hospitals converted to urgent care centres.
Krista Williams, Chief Operations Officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, told Global News anyone who shows up at Seven Oaks will still receive whatever care is needed.
“When we switch over, there should be no difference for a patient attending,” she said.
“We’ll make sure they have the services that they receive, but we’ll work hard on public education so that in the future we will see individuals making the right choice to meet their needs.”
Williams said about two-thirds of all patients can receive the required treatment at urgent care centres instead of ERs.
Urgent care centres aren’t able to treat life-threatening health concerns, but rather are designed to help patients with serious conditions but are otherwise stable with no immediate risk to their lives.
A few dozen people gathered outside of the hospital on Sunday afternoon for a rally organized by the Manitoba NDP to protest the end of the emergency room at Seven Oaks.
NDP leader Wab Kinew has promised to reopen the ERs at Seven Oaks and Concordia if elected premier in September’s provincial election.
WATCH: Wab Kinew urges Pallister to freeze Seven Oaks ER closure until after election