North Grenville COVID-19 Assessment Centre increasing hours to help manage challenging viral season

KEMPTVILLE, ONTARIO, NOVEMBER 10, 2022 – The early arrival of the flu, a resurgence in respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and the continued spread of COVID-19 have created a challenging ‘viral season’.

In an effort to help manage this challenge, The North Grenville Covid-19 Assessment Centre (NGCAC) has expanded its hours to Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm.

The NGCAC is offering 30 appointments per day for patients over three months of age presenting with Febrile Respiratory Illness (FRI) symptoms who are seeking a physician assessment.

FRI symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, headache, runny nose, nausea, and vomiting.

Patients will require an appointment for physician assessment; bookings can be made online after 5pm the day before at www.ngcac.ca. To check for availability by phone, call 613-258-3192 between 9am and 5pm.

“In light of the huge pressures on all components of our health system, we are pleased to be able to provide another option for people with FRI symptoms,” said Dr. Suzanne Rutherford, Medical Director of the NGCAC. “The other options for people are to get an appointment with their family doctor or go to the emergency department.”

Dr. Rutherford  credited Lisa Kirkham and Sara Paquin, the NGCAC managers, for locating the staff needed to execute this change.

Please note, physician assessment visits will not include a COVD-19 test unless testing eligibility is met (as set out by the provincial guidelines.) The NGCAC also offers COVID-19 tests as a ‘Do It Yourself’ Testing Centre. For more information see www.ngcac.ca

The NGCAC’s expanded hours took effect on November 8.

About the North Grenville COVID-19 Assessment Centre

The North Grenville COVID-19 Assessment Centre is a community-based collaboration of five partners: Rideau Crossing Family Health Centre; the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit; the Municipality of North Grenville; Leeds Grenville Paramedic Service; and Kemptville District Hospital. The Assessment Centre is located at 15 Campus Drive (Bell Hall on the Kemptville Campus) in Kemptville, Ontario. The Centre is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm beginning October 5, 2020. The partners designed the centre to be as efficient as possible, to minimize wait times for patients and families, and to minimize disruption on the Kemptville Campus, which is home to several schools and other organizations.