
Concordia Hospital (WIKIPEDIA)
WINNIPEG — A date has been set for Concordia Hospital’s emergency department to officially be transitioned to an Urgent Care Centre.
The switchover will happen Monday, June 3 after months of uncertainty following the province’s previous plans to have Concordia’s ER permanently close.
Similar changes are on the way at Seven Oaks General Hospital for September, which will also become an urgent care unit.
The changes come under the recommendation of consultant Dr. David Peachey, who the province recently brought back to conduct a “quality assurance assessment” following his original report. (PDF)
“Dr. Peachey’s review identified a number of challenges which clinical leadership from Shared Health and the WRHA have been addressing over the past few weeks,” said Dr. Brock Wright, CEO of Shared Health.
“Patients are, and will remain, the focus of our clinical planning work across the province. The revised timeline and sequencing of the WRHA’s plan are necessary and we are confident in our ability to ensure ongoing quality of care and patient safety.”
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says the urgent care centres will be “appropriately staffed to treat patients arriving either via ambulance or on a walk-in basis for treatment of urgent, but non-life-threatening, health concerns.”
Concordia Hospital was the subject of vast community and health-care worker support once original plans were announced to shutter the ER in 2017. Opponents of the province’s Healing our Health System plan rallied, held protests and voiced concerns surrounding the pending closure.