The Concordia Hospital emergency room will be replaced with an urgent care centre as of Monday June 3, according to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health.
In a news release Wednesday, WRHA and Shared Health also announced the month when the emergency room at Seven Oaks Hospital will close to make way for an urgent care centre -- this September.
The ER closures come as part of a plan from the Pallister government to overhaul the health care system according to recommendations laid out by consultant Dr. David Peachey.
Initially the “Healing the Health System” plan called for Concordia’s emergency department to be replaced with a connected care clinic, but after Peachey conducted a review of how changes are going, Manitoba’s Health Minister Cameron Friesen announced the plan had changed, saying earlier in May that “current timelines were not workable.”
The news release Wednesday said both 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.”
It also said safety protocols will be put in place to ensure the needs of patients are met.
“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,” said Dr. Brock Wright, chief executive officer, Shared Health.
The announcement said the city’s remaining emergency departments will have more physician and staff resources made available to help deal with more patients with higher patient acuity.
