The urgent care unit at Misericordia Health Centre officially closed Tuesday morning.
The closure is part of the first phase of the provincial government’s overhaul of healthcare in Winnipeg.
Meanwhile, the emergency room at Victoria Hospital will be converted into an urgent care centre. That was scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.
“Really this change will direct patients with less urgent and less serious illnesses to the Victoria Hospital, and will begin the part of the plan to really consolidate our acute care in the three facilities, Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface, and the Grace Hospital,” said Lori Lamont of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
Lamont added that the urgent care centre at Victoria Hospital will be staffed by emergency-trained doctors and nurses.
WRHA spokesperson Bronwyn Penner Holigroski said there were 15 people at Victoria Hospital for urgent care Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.
She also said the Victoria Hospital ER had 117 patients all day Monday, and that no ambulances had to be diverted overnight as the new protocol was already in place.
The WRHA has been mandated to find $83 million in savings.
Premier Brian Pallister has called the moves the most significant change to healthcare in a generation.
