The field hospital at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre is being removed, with the centre aimed to reopen to the community.
A release notes, Grey Bruce Health Services staff will begin removing the 75-bed hospital on July 12.
Set up last May the hospital was established as a contingency should a surge in Covid cases emerge in Grey Bruce and other areas of the province and they need extra capacity to support the pandemic. This move was part of the Ontario government’s request to set up temporary hospital facilities.
“We are grateful to the City of Owen Sound for the use of the building, the support of City staff, and for the collaborative relationships with the city, public health and the Owen Sound Attack in accommodating the field hospital on the ice surface at the Bayshore Centre,” says GBHS President and CEO Gary Sims.
The facility was fully equipped with beds, IT support, and oxygen and medical gas lines. It as built so it could be re-purposed and re-built either at the centre or anywhere else should the need arise.
“The dismantling of the field hospital is good news for Grey and Bruce as we inch toward the end of the pandemic. We were happy to have supported and accommodated the needs of Grey Bruce Health Services over the past year,” says Mayor Ian Boddy.
Sims adds due to the safety precautions in place and personal sacrifices by the people in the region, they did not have to open the facility and they are grateful for that.
