UPDATE: COVID-19 assessment centre moving to Beechgrove

On Saturday, Sept 26, 2020, Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) will relocate the Community COVID-19 Assessment Centre to the Beechgrove Complex in Kingston. 

The Beechgrove Complex lies just south of the King Street West/Portsmouth Avenue intersection.  According to KHSC, signage will direct people through the Complex to the Recreation Centre building at 51 Heakes Lane for walk-in testing and will mark the route cars must travel for drive-through testing (which will be available on Saturday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020.

In an interview with Kingstonist, Elizabeth Bardon, Vice President of mission, strategy integration and support services at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) said this more central location will provide better accessibility for residents of the city at large.

Bardon expressed that while the KHSC is grateful to the City of Kingston for allowing them to use the Leon’s Centre as the COVID-19 assessment centre, it is, first and foremost a community centre. Moving the assessment centre will allow the Leon’s Centre to be available if and when regular events resume.

The Beechgrove location will also provide more space and flexibility for the layout of the testing facility, allowing for pop-up testing options, and it offers on-site parking.

“With volumes growing quickly in the Assessment Centre, we believe the new site will be more responsive to community need,” Bardon said in a media release dated Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. “It will give us greater flexibility in terms of physical space, accessibility, patient comfort and parking.  We will continue to reassess and adjust as we go to continually improve the model.”

According to Bardon, the assessment centre will remain at the Beechgrove location over the winter, though it’s unclear whether there will be an available indoor waiting space during inclement weather.

WHAT STAYS THE SAME

·         Prior to visiting the Assessment Centre, patients and parents of young children are encouraged to complete an online self-assessment to determine if they need to come in for a test.  Self-assessment tools are available at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/.

·         Walk-in patients will continue to be seen.  Infants under 6 months of age should be taken to the Children’s Outpatient Centre at the Hotel Dieu Hospital site or the Emergency Department for assessment.

·         People are required to bring a valid Ontario health card or a piece of photo identification.

·         People must wear a mask and maintain physical distancing at all times while in the walk-in line.

WHAT’S NEW

·         Operating hours:  Testing hours will return to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

·         Drive-through swabbing:  To help address the immediate need for more testing in our community, a drive-through option will be available Saturday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 27. In-car testing will be limited to 4 persons per car and individuals being tested must bring a valid Ontario health card.

·         Feedback tool:  The public can now send their concerns, questions and comments to [email protected] and every effort will be made to provide a response within two business days.

KHSC is encouraging everyone to take the online self-assessment before heading out to the assessment centre.

The main entrance (pictured above) will not be used for the Assessment Centre. Instead, those entering the Assessment Centre on the south side of the lower building at 51 Heakes Lane (pictured below).

KHSC reiterated that residents are to continue using the Assessment Centre located at the Leon’s Centre until the Assessment Centre moves later this month.

For more information about the COVID-19 Assessment Centre visit www.KingstonHSC.ca/COVID19

To obtain COVID-19 test results online visit https://covid-19.ontario.ca/