Hospital set to open new location of COVID-19 Assessment Centre

The new COVID-19 Assessment Centre location at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre opens on Monday, November 16.

The COVID-19 Assessment Centre is moving to the first floor of the Medical Centre building at 984 Oliver Road (beside the Hospital) with its own separate entrance at the side of the building right off of the A1 “Eagle” parking lot (off of Golf Links Road). The separate entrance is in place for the health and safety of all other patients and staff in the Medical Centre. Please do not to enter through the Medical Centre’s main lobby doors as they do not connect to the Assessment Centre.

The new location offers a more efficient, sustainable and accessible solution to ongoing COVID-19 testing needs, replacing the temporary Assessment Centre trailer located outside of the Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED).

Anyone with an appointment for COVID-19 testing over the weekend must still go to the Assessment Centre trailer outside of the ED. The Assessment Centre will move to the Medical Centre building on Monday, November 16th at 8:00 am.

Appointments are required. Same-day appointments can be made by visiting www.tbrhsc.net/bookonline or by calling at (807) 935-8100. Same-day appointments are more efficient and allow more people to be tested in a more timely fashion. Hours of operation are 8:00 am until 8:00 pm.

As per guidelines set by Ontario Health, the Assessment Centre perform tests only for people who are symptomatic, known contacts with an identified case, or part of a high risk group such as health care workers or first responders. This ensures testing is prioritized for those who really need it.

The alternative COVID-19 Assessment Centre located at the Confederation College continues to provide testing for symptomatic students, parents and families, teachers and other school personnel including bus drivers. In addition, those who are asymptomatic but require a test for special circumstances, such as visitors to Long-Term Care, will primarily be tested in the afternoons at the Confederation College location.

The Hospital’s Emergency Department only performs COVID-19 tests for patients who require admissions for respiratory or other illnesses indicating the need for COVID-19 testing. Community members are asked not to attend the Emergency Department as a testing alternative to the Assessment Centre.

Anyone with questions about COVID-19 symptoms, self-isolation and monitoring, or testing criteria, should call the Thunder Bay District Health Unit at (807) 625-5900 or toll free at 1-888-294-6630.

For more information about the Hospital’s COVID-19 response, visit http://tbrhsc.net/covid-19-information/.