Assessment Centres

The West End COVID-19 Assessment Centre at 690 Main St. West is open Monday to Friday 5 to 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 5 pm.

The East End COVID-19 Assessment Centre at 2757 King Street East is open Monday to Friday 4 to 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm.

If you are symptomatic after the Centre is closed and you do not need emergency care, please continue to self-isolate and wait to go to the Centre the following day.

If you need emergency care at any time, please go to your nearest emergency department or call 911.

No. You should only visit the Assessment Centre if you have been referred by your doctor or Hamilton Public Health Services. Otherwise, please complete a self-assessment at www.ontario.ca/coronavirus to determine if it is necessary to contact public health, your doctor or Telehealth Ontario for more guidance.

No. If you are in distress (e.g., significant trouble breathing, chest pain, fainting, or have a significant worsening of any chronic disease symptoms), do not go to the Assessment Centre. Go to the nearest Emergency Department or call 911.

• You need a referral from your doctor or Hamilton Public Health Services to get an appointment at the Assessment Centre. 
• To speak with Hamilton Public Health Services about a referral, contact Hamilton’s COVID-19 Hotline at 905-974-9848
• If you are a healthcare provider who needs to report a possible case of COVID-19, or who has questions about clinical practice, please call Hamilton Public Health Services at 905-974-9848

Bring your Ontario health card, a list of your current medications, and anything else that you might need while you wait to be assessed. Wait times will depend on patient volume but may be several hours.

Yes. The COVID-19 Assessment Centre can assess and test both children and adults. Do not bring your child if they are well and do not need to be screened.

Yes. Everyone will sanitize their hands and put on a mask immediately on arrivial at the Centre.

• When you arrive at the Assessment Centre, you will be screened for travel and contact history and symptoms.
• If you are symptomatic, and have either have returned from travel, or been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 14 days, you will be assessed by a healthcare provider and tested for COVID-19 if required.
• The test involves taking a sample from the back of the nasal cavity with a swab.
• Information about how to manage symptoms and next steps will be provided.
• Hamilton Public Health Services will follow up with everyone who is tested and further instruction will be provided.

As part of our commitment to maintaining a safe care and work environment in the COVID-19 Assessment Centres, visitors will not be allowed to join patients in the Assessment Centre with the following exceptions:

• An adult accompanying a child who is a patient, a frail older person, a person with a disability
• Anyone acting as an interpreter

The safety of all staff, physicians, volunteers, students, patients, families and visitors remains a top priority. All patients visiting the COVID-19 Assessment Centres will be required to wear the mask provided and use the hand sanitizer prior to entering the facility.

• Areas for screening and assessment will be kept separate to reduce the risk of spreading infection.
• Everyone will be asked to sanitize their hands and put on a mask at the Centre entrance.
• Please also be mindful to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

• Yes. Your personal health information is protected under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA).
• The following information will be reported on the Ministry of Health of Ontario’s website:
  • Patient age and gender
  • Public Health Unit
  • Hospital involved
  • Type of transmission
  • Status (e.g. home isolation)

Hamilton Public Health Services staff are mainly dedicated to case management and contact-tracing to ensure we’re preventing the spread of the virus. However, because our health care and laboratory systems are at full capacity, Hamilton Public Health has offered to notify residents whose COVID-19 test results are negative. While we have no control over how quickly we receive the test results, we are making every effort to follow up on the ones we have received as quickly as possible. It will be a minimum of 5 days to get test results. If someone has concerns about their pending results, they can contact Public Health’s COVID-19 hotline at 905-974-9848 or [email protected]

No. The Assessment Centres have been established strictly to screen and assess patients for COVID-19. Notes for employment or other purposes will not be provided by physicians or other clinical staff.