West End Urgent Care Centre to reopen to care for urgent needs

HAMILTON, ON – Hamilton Health Sciences’ West End Urgent Care Centre (UCC) will reopen on Thursday, March 24. The UCC was closed temporarily on January 17 to support COVID efforts across the hospital system. The UCC will be open to care for patients between 12 and 7 p.m., seven days a week. No appointments are required.

“If you’re experiencing an illness or injury that isn’t an emergency, but can’t wait for an appointment with a family doctor, an urgent care centre is a good option for you,” says Dr. Kuldeep Sidhu, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS).

Examples of medical issues which require urgent care include:

• Minor cuts or wounds that may require stitches
• Simple broken bones, sprains, strains or deep bruises
• Ear infections
• Fevers, coughs, congestion, and sore throats
• Insect bites, rashes and scrapes

For emergencies, please call 9-1-1 or visit your nearest emergency department.

Urgent care centres are staffed by emergency department-trained doctors and nurses and can provide you with faster access to a doctor, rather than waiting in the ER (based on average wait times). Urgent care centres allow access to services such as X-rays, ultrasounds (for certain conditions), and laboratory services (located off-site).

“We would like to thank the Urgent Care Centre staff and physicians who were deployed to other areas of HHS during this wave,” adds Dr. Sidhu. “We would also like to thank the community for their patience and understanding as we made these transitions.”

The UCC is one of two in Hamilton and offers walk-in medical care for patients with urgent health concerns that can’t wait for a family doctor.

To learn more about your healthcare options, please visit www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/areas-of-care/emergency-care/ and www.NeedADoc.ca.

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For more information, please contact:

Wendy Stewart
Communications & Public Affairs
Hamilton Health Sciences
stewartwen@hhsc.ca