With Ontario in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and an anticipated seasonal surge in patient volumes in our community, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) is expanding the capacity and scope of the PRHC COVID-19 Assessment Centre.

The expanded Assessment Centre will:
• Double medical assessment/testing capacity to accommodate as many as 200 people daily
• Divert patients with moderate respiratory symptoms, and who require a physician assessment, away from the Emergency Department (ED)

The new, larger Assessment Centre will be in the same location (at the north-west corner of the hospital) and will provide improved accessibility for patients. The booking process and screening criteria will remain the same.

To accommodate the move into the new, larger space, PRHC’s Assessment Centre will be closed on Tuesday, November 17 and will reopen on Wednesday, November 18 at noon.

If you have COVID-19 symptoms and need to be assessed by a doctor, contact PRHC’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre directly by phone at 705-876-5086 to determine whether an appointment is required. This phone line is staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., seven (7) days a week. When coming to the Assessment Centre, bring your Ontario Health Card with you.

You can access your test results using your Ontario Health Card number on the provincial online portal at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/ or by calling your healthcare provider.

There are several testing options available in Peterborough depending on the severity of your symptoms and provincial screening criteria. To determine where you should be tested, visit: https://www.prhc.on.ca/aboutus/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/.

Patients with severe symptoms should continue to call 911 or visit the Emergency Department. For more information and updates related to COVID-19 in the Peterborough region, please visit https://www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/. Visit Ontario’s website to learn more about provincial measures related to COVID-19.

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For more information: Michelene Ough, Director, Communications, mough@prhc.on.ca