Coronavirus: COVID-19 assessment centre relocating within Cobourg hospital

Beginning Monday, the assessment centre for COVID-19 at Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg, Ont., will be in a new location within the building.

The hospital says the centre will move from its current location at the front entrance to a location adjacent to the emergency department.

The centre opened on March 14 and has assessed 5,273 people during in-person and virtual visits, the hospital stated Friday. The hospital says of those visits, swabs to test for the coronavirus have been completed on 3,333 people.

The hospital says the centre is relocating as it begins to resume non-urgent surgeries, procedures and tests this month which were cancelled on March 19 under the province’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. The COVID-19 assessment centre is currently within the ambulatory care clinic space which will be needed as services gradually return.

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“When the pandemic arrived, hospitals were challenged by the government to meet local need for screening and assessment, and divert traffic from Emergency Departments which needed to be protected in the event of high volumes of COVID-19 patients,” stated Linda Davis, hospital president and CEO.

“NHH moved quickly to put this in place and it continues to be needed. We are moving now into a careful and staged resumption of some of our non-essential services. A plan has been devised that will allow us to maintain the COVID-19 assessment centre inside the hospital, but in a location that will permit both the emergency department and the ambulatory care clinics to function as well. We will closely monitor patient flow in the days following this change, and adjust as needed.”

Effective Monday, those arriving for COVID-19 assessment are asked to enter via the emergency department entrance, versus the current entrance which is at the main front doors of the hospital.

Street signage to communicate this change will be placed outside the hospital and information will be shared via local media and social media channels.

The centre’s hours remain unchanged, running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Call the centre directly at 905-377-7783 to book an appointment or if you have questions.

On Friday, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit reported 17 cases in Northumberland County, 16 of which have been resolved.