Burlington hospital to open province’s first temporary COVID-19 facility

A Burlington hospital is the first in Ontario to set up temporary space ahead of an expected surge of COVID-19 patients.

The new facility outside Joseph Brant Hospital will house 93 new beds just for those who need hospitalization and treatment for the coronavirus. That’s on top of the 71 beds already designated for COVID-19 patients inside the hospital.

“The Pandemic Response Unit is being built as a critical part of our pandemic response plan to meet the heightened care needs of our community and ultimately save lives,” Eric Vandewall, president and CEO of Joseph Brant Hospital, said in a statement.

“We are doing everything we can to care for the people of Burlington to prepare for these unprecedented times.”

The facility will allow the hospital to save critical care beds for its sickest patients.

The Pandemic Response Unity will be staffed by physicians across Burlington who have volunteered their services.

‘”I have confidence in our health care system, and particularly in our healthcare professionals,” Burlington MP Karina Gould stated.

“The Federal government has provided an extra $500 million to provinces to support our health care system. We are also coordinating the procurement of essential equipment to keep our frontline workers safe and working with Canadian industry, including here in Halton, to produce the equipment we need. I want to recognize the efforts of our local hospital. “

Work on the new facility began on Tuesday and it is expected to open its doors to patients in mid-April.

Joseph Brant Hospital currently is treating four confirmed cases of coronavirus and one suspected case.

Similar temporary facilities are also being set up in British Columbia and Quebec. Quebec currently has the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada.