November 10, 2009
HAMILTON – Due to the decrease in the volumes visiting the H1N1 Assessment Centres, they will be closing over the next few days. Upon closure of the centres, patients will be redirected back to local Emergency Departments and their family doctors. These centres were for patients with flu symptoms only. They did not dispense vaccines, and do not treat patients for ailments other than flu-like illness.
- Hamilton H1N1 West End Assessment Centre at Hamilton Health Sciences West End Clinic, 690 Main Street West (Monday to Thursday: 3 p.m. - 10 p.m.) will be CLOSED as of Friday November 13th.
- Hamilton H1N1 East End Assessment Centre at St. Joseph's Healthcare, 2757 King Street East Campus (Monday to Friday: 3 p.m. - 10 p.m. & Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.) will be CLOSED as of Monday, November 16th.
The centres are a collaborative effort of Hamilton Public Health Services, Hamilton Health Sciences, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and family physicians in the Hamilton community. They are staffed by community physicians along with hospital nurses and support staff.
"The centres have served their purpose of relieving the burden from Emergency Departments and reducing wait times. Now that the number of people visiting the centres has been greatly decreased, it is time to close these temporary H1N1 Assessment Centres and redirect the valuable resources to other locations," said Dr. David McCann, Assistant Professor with the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University and Medical Director for the H1N1 Assessment Centres. "The teams at Public Health Services, Hamilton Health Sciences, St. Joseph’s Healthcare and a number of Hamilton’s family physicians are to be commended for opening these centres so swiftly. Should the need for more H1N1 Assessment Centres arise again in the coming weeks, they will be quickly reopened."
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For additional information, please contact:
Dr. David McCann --
Assistant Professor with the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University and Medical Director for the H1N1 Assessment Centres -- mccann@mcmaster.ca.
Joy Shikaze –
Public Information Officer, Health Sector Incident Management System
905-304-3234 – joyshikaze@cogeco.ca