The COVID-19 field hospital at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre is coming down.
In a recent release, Grey Bruce Health Services confirmed that the field hospital will be taken down on July 12th, and the Bayshore Community Centre will re-open to the community. The field hospital was originally erected last May, according to GBHS's release, as "part of contingency planning in case the Grey Bruce region or other areas of the province needed extra capacity to support the pandemic."
The field hospital was fully equipped with IT support, oxygen and medical gas lines and beds for potential emergency COVID-19 patients. Staff will create a handbook as it is deconstructed so the field hospital can be quickly rebuilt for any similar medical emergency needs in the future.
“We are grateful to the City of Owen Sound for 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,” says GBHS President and CEO Gary Sims. “We are all looking forward to seeing The Attack Hockey club on the ice again soon.”
“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,” adds Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy. “We look forward to the return to regular programming for our user groups, residents and visitors at the Bayshore Community Centre.”
“When we built the field hospital, we said that our greatest measure of success would be if the facility was not required,” Sims shares. “Thanks to the safety precautions and personal sacrifices made by people in our region, we did not have to open the facility, and for that we are very grateful.”