Guelph General Hospital has joined other area health care facilities in an agreement with the City of Waterloo that would see RIM Park turned into a field hospital if necessary.
St. Joseph's Health Centre and the hospitals in Mount Forest and Palmerston would also use the north Waterloo recreational facility.
The agreement was announced Tuesday.
Other hospitals involved are Cambridge Memorial Hospital, St. Mary’s General Hospital and Grand River Hospital.
RIM Park would be put into use if demand ever exceeds the spaces available at the area hospitals.
“While we remain hopeful that we will never need to expand our care through the use of a field hospital, we are pleased to have reached this milestone - along with all of our Waterloo/Wellington Hospitals - with the City of Waterloo,” said Marianne Walker, President and CEO of Guelph General Hospital, in a news release.
The release on the joint venture said that the City of Waterloo’s largest recreation facility, RIM Park Manulife Sportsplex and Heathy Living Centre, has the potential to play a key role as a field hospital accommodating hundreds of additional beds and equipment for patients, should they be required.
All of the hospitals in the broader region would work together to equip, staff and operate the facility for Waterloo and Guelph-Wellington patients.
"While recent public health data is promising, and shows that we are trending toward flattening the curve and slowing the number of COVID-19 cases in our regions, the hospitals will be prepared to implement and operate these additional spaces when it is clear that the need for additional care will be greater than the capacity of our hospitals," it said.
