WELLINGTON COUNTY – Another COVID-19 assessment centre is opening in Wellington County in October.
This one will be in Harriston at the train station and is aimed at serving northern county residents.
“When the lease was up on our Mount Forest assessment centre, we started the search to find a new location for our Wellington North, Minto and Mapleton residents,” said Alison Armstrong, Wellington Health Care Alliance (WHCA) spokesperson, by email.
“We are working with the Town of Minto, Ontario Health, public health and local family health teams to finalize details.”
Armstrong said they are hoping to have the Harriston testing centre open in early October.
The Fergus Assessment Centre, at the Legacy Groves Hospital site, will remain open as it has been experiencing higher than normal volumes and long wait times.
Armstrong explained this is the case at most assessment centres in the region.
“Currently, wait time at the Groves assessment centre can be approximately three hours,” Armstrong said. “The lineups are long and based on volume, you may be asked to come back on another day if we have met our daily capacity.”
She said WHCA is working on hiring more staff to increase hours and an appointment based system to reduce people standing and waiting.
Armstrong also reminds the public that only COVID-19 tests are offered at the Fergus assessment centre and urges to address other concerns with their doctor or the emergency department.
