COVID-19 Assessment Centre opens at Roseway Hospital

This comes in addition to an assessment centre at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital

A COVID-19 assessment centre has been opened at Roseway Hospital.

The assessment centre is located in the visiting clinic corridor. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., seven days a week.

The centre is an area where members of the public can be seen and assessed separately from the emergency department. The public will be directed to go to the assessment centre only after calling 811.

People can consult the

811 website for screening information, and then call

811 if they have travelled out of country and have a fever with a temperature of 38 C or higher, and/or cough. 811 will provide direction on what to do next. If there is a need for in-person assessment, 811 will refer to the COVID-19 assessment centre and they will be contacted for an appointment.

“The opening of this assessment centre helps reinforce the important role

Roseway Hospital plays in delivering health care services to residents in our community,” said site leader Jodi Ybarra in a press release. “As always, I am overwhelmed with the capacity of our staff and physicians to go aboveand-beyond for our patients, and each other, during challenging circumstances. I want to thank everyone in our community for seeking out factual information and practicing social distancing as necessary.”

There is also an assessment centre located at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital.

As is the case with other hospitals in the province many NSHA services are being reduced or suspended at Roseway Hospital as part of COVID-19 response to contain the spread of the virus as well as to conserve and redeploy our resources in anticipation of increasing demand related to the pandemic.

As of Wednesday,

March 18:

· All non-urgent diagnostic imaging appointments will be rescheduled and walk-in X-ray services will be closed. Cancer Care imaging, PET scans and other time-sensitive exams will continue.

· Outpatient blood collection services will not close completely but services will be reduced (i.e. reduction in hours and number of locations). Details regarding these changes will be communicated as soon as they are available.

· All elective outpatient visits are cancelled. Individual services will contact patients whose appointments are proceeding. Dialysis, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and mental health and addictions appointments will continue.

· All same-day admission and elective surgical procedures are postponed. Cancer and urgent/emergency procedures will continue.

· As currently occupied inpatient beds become available, they will be held open to create capacity to establish COVID units in designated hospitals.

For up-to-date information, please visit http:// www.nshealth.ca/coronavirus.