Owen Sound field hospital at Bayshore Community Centre coming down
Hospitals in Grey Bruce continue to treat more than a dozen COVID-19 patients, but the darkest hours of the pandemic appear to be over.
On Monday workers started to dismantle the emergency field hospital at the Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound.
"We are grateful to the city of Owen Sound for the use of the building, the support of city staff, and for the collaborative relationships with the city, public health and the Owen Sound Attack in accommodating the field hospital on the ice surface at the Bayshore centre, said Gary Sims, Grey Bruce Health Services president and CEO, in a press release." "We are all looking forward to seeing the Attack Hockey Club on the ice again soon."
The community centre was turned into a 75-bed hospital last May as part of a contingency plan if the Grey Bruce region or other areas in the province needed extra capacity during the pandemic.
"The dismantling of the field hospital is good news for Grey and Bruce as we inch towards the end of the pandemic. We were happy to have supported and accommodated the needs of Grey Bruce Health Services over the past year," said Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy in a press release. "We look forward to the return to regular programming for our user groups, residents and visitors at the Bayshore Community Centre."
The field hospital was equipped with beds, IT support, oxygen, and medical gas lines throughout the pandemic.
It was constructed so that the facility could be re-purposed and re-built if needed.
Staff will now create a handbook so that the facility can be re-assembled and that the lessons learned in terms of design will become part of GBHS's plan for the future.
"When we built the field hospital, we said that our greatest measure of success would be if the facility were not required," said Sims. "Thanks to the safety precautions and personal sacrifices made by the people in our region, we did not have to open the facility, and for that, we are very grateful."
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