Following the announcement of the first positive cases of COVID-19 in Northumberland County, Kawartha Lakes, and Peterborough, three hospitals in the Kawarthas region — the Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH) in Cobourg, Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) in Lindsay, and the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) in Peterborough — have established COVID-19 assessment centres.
Not everyone needs to go to an assessment centre for testing. Due to high demand and according to guidelines from the Ontario Ministry of Health, all three hospitals are asking patients to first complete these steps before deciding whether to go to an assessment centre:
- Complete the COVID-19 self-assessment at ontario.ca/coronavirus.
- If indicated by the self-assessment results, contact Telehealth at 1-866-797-0000 or your local health unit. For Northumberland County and Kawartha Lakes residents, contact the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge Health Unit at 1-866-888-4577 ext. 5020. For Peterborough residents, contact Peterborough Public Health at 705-743-1000 ext. 401.
- If symptoms are severe, call 911 and alert the dispatcher to your travel history and symptoms.
More information about each assessment centre is provided below. For the most up-to-date information, please visit each hospital’s website (links are provided below).
NHH COVID-19 Assessment Centre
Northumberland Hills Hospital’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre, located in the Ambulatory Care Clinic area of the hospital at 1000 DePalma Drive (immediately inside the main front entrance).
The centre is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with hours of operation changing as needed.
The centre, which will provide assessment and testing for people of all ages, is intended for those who are displaying mild symptoms associated with COVID-19 (a fever and/or a new or worsening cough) and who have either returned from international travel or who have had contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 14 days.
The centre will screen patients, test them for COVID-19 (if deemed appropriate), and direct patients to proceed as required. These directions may be to go home with no action required at this time, to go home on self-isolation to await a test result, or to proceed to the NHH Emergency Department for further assessment by the department’s health care team.
For more information, visit the hospital’s website at nhh.ca/covid-19
RMH COVID-19 Assessment Centre
Ross Memorial Hospital’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre is located within the ambulance bay at the hospital (10 Angeline St. N., Lindsay). It is a ‘drive-thru’ centre, with marked entrance from Angeline Street North.
Beginning Wednesday, March 18th, patients will call first for a phone assessment by a nurse or physician, who will refer the caller for the appropriate next steps, which may include self-monitoring instructions, self-isolation instructions, testing at the offsite location (Lindsay Exhibition), or seeking care in the hospital.
Patients should contact the RMH COVID-19 Assessment Centre only if referred by Telehealth, public health, or a care provider.
Beginning Wednesday, March 18th, the RMH COVID-19 Assessment Centre can be reached at 705-328-6217. The hours of operation are between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.
For more information, visit the hospital’s website at rmh.org/covid-19.
PRHC COVID-19 Assessment Centre
Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s assessment centre is located within a dedicated area inside the hospital’s Emergency Department at 1 Hospital Drive in Peterborough. On Monday, March 23rd, the assessment centre will be moved to a mobile unit outside of the main hospital building.
Assessments are available by appointment only after following the steps listed at the beginning of this story. Patients should attend the assessment centre only as directed by Peterborough Public Health or Telehealth Ontario. Members of the public who come to the assessment centre without an appointment will not be seen.
Patients who have had an assessment scheduled by Peterborough Public Health or Telehealth Ontario should present to the entrance of the Emergency Department at least 15 minutes prior to their appointment time and follow the direction provided by the person screening patients and visitors. Patients coming for assessment should clean their hands and apply a face mask as directed when entering the hospital.
From there, patients will be redirected to the COVID-19 assessment area, where hospital staff will complete the assessment. Testing will be administered according to Ministry of Health guidelines according to the results of the assessment; not all patients who are assessed will be tested for COVID-19.
Following their assessment, patients will be directed on next steps, which may include self-monitoring instructions, returning home to self-isolate while waiting for test results, or remaining in the Emergency Department for further assessment.
For more information, visit the hospital’s website at prhc.on.ca/cms/covid-19-novel-coronavirus.
