Minden Urgent Care Clinic kept busy during first weekend of operation

Without an Emergency Department, a new urgent care clinic in Minden was kept busy this weekend as it opened its doors for the first time.

The Kawartha North Family Health Team (KNFHT) applied for funding just a week before the emergency department's closure on June 1, and it opened the clinic at the former hospital site last Friday.

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"We had people start arriving at 11 a.m. if that's an indication of the need, and I think it went well," said Marina Hodson,

Kawartha North Family Health Team Executive Director. "I mean, there were some growing pains."

With those needing emergency care now directed to Haliburton, the Minden clinic hopes to ease some pressure on their neighbouring hospital.

"So far, we're on track to divert 100 patients from the emergency clinic in Haliburton Village," Hodson said. "So I think that's "exactly what we hoped would happen."

One mother of five drove her young daughter to Haliburton Sunday night to treat a burn from hot liquid but said they would've been there all night waiting and instead went to the Minden clinic on Monday.

"We went home. She was able to get some food in her belly. Get some sleep, and then we were in and out of here within half an hour. Treated, bandaged, good to go," Samantha Rowsell said.

Many patients who visited the Minden urgent care clinic were grateful to have a local service again.

"This is a great way to bring back some care to the local community, and that's the way a lot of the community feels," said Patrick Porzuczek, the founder of the Save Minden ER campaign. "But it's those urgent things, those urgent traumatic injuries and illnesses that this facility does not treat, but at the same time, it's the hours of operation."

While after just one weekend of operation, the Minden urgent care clinic is already considering shifting its hours to open earlier. It will also be extending its weekend accessibility into Mondays and Fridays in the coming weeks to cover more weekdays in the future as more staff are hired.