Construction closes entrance to Guelph General’s emergency department

The entrance to the emergency department at Guelph General Hospital is closed to the public on Wednesday while a temporary expansion is installed.

The hospital said the structure is being delivered in three pieces with the first two sections scheduled to arrive around 10 a.m. The other piece should arrive later in the afternoon.

Patients and visitors to the hospital will have to enter and exit the hospital through the main doors while the work is happening.

Only patients arriving by ambulance will be allowed into the emergency department through the entrance off Delhi Street.

The hospital said the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the space requirements in the emergency department.

When it opened in 2001, it was sized based on a projected volume of 45,000 annual visits. Over the past six years, it has averaged over 60,000.

The hospital said the expansion will provide additional space to achieve the new standards required to respond to COVID-19.

0:35 Guelph police salute healthcare workers on the front lines of the novel coronavirus pandemic