Hamilton field hospital that never treated any patients to be dismantled

Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) has been told to take down a field hospital in the city just over a month after it opened its doors.

The Ministry of Health has directed HHS to dismantle the 17,000 square foot Mobile Health Unit effective immediately.

The structure was built to treat patients from across Ontario in the event of extreme pressure on the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The unit was set up in a parking lot on Wellington St. near the Hamilton General Hospital.

It is configured for up to 80 patient beds. However, the hospital never treated a single patient inside. It was meant for individuals with acute medical needs who would only be in hospital for a short stay as well as patients who were close to discharge.

In a statement released on June 30, HHS said a “tremendous amount of work went into planning, constructing, staffing and equipping the state-of-the-art temporary hospital space. Hundreds of people were involved and HHS is proud to have been part of this pandemic response initiative.”

The hospital opened on May 31 when COVID-19 numbers were already going down.

The process to remove the structure and restore the space to a parking lot is expected to be complete in September.

There are other field hospitals that remain in the area. The Pandemic Response Unit at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington is continuing to operate as a vaccination clinic. They’ve administered over 45,000 vaccinations since it opened in March.

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