Peel Memorial closes urgent care centre amid 'extreme' capacity and staffing pressures
The urgent care centre at Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness in Brampton will be closed until at least Feb. 1 amid “extreme capacity and staffing shortages.”
William Osler Health System made the announcement Monday evening after previously announcing the urgent care centre would be closed until Jan. 10.
“Due to increasing volumes in our Emergency Departments, further compounded by our extreme capacity and staffing pressures, Osler has made the very difficult decision to temporarily close its Urgent Care Centre at Peel Memorial until at least February 1, 2022,” a statement issued on their website said.
“This closure will help to direct the highly skilled staff and physicians to where demand is the greatest.”
Amid the recent surge of COVID-19 cases across Ontario fuelled by the Omicron variant, hospitals are continuing to grapple with staffing shortages and higher than normal patient volumes.
Last week, staffing shortages and increased patient volume saw William Osler Health System declare a ‘code orange’ across its hospital network.
The temporary measure, called off on Jan. 5, allowed patients to be transferred to neighbouring hospitals in order to free up capacity.
In response to the urgent care centre's closure, MPP for Brampton North, Kevin Yarde, MPP for Brampton Centre, Sara Singh and Deputy Opposition House Leader for the NDP, Gurratan Singh, released a joint statement Monday evening.
“The temporary closure of Peel Memorial's Urgent Care Centre is a scary development for patients and their families,” the statement read
“No one should have to worry that a loved one might not get the care they need in an emergency.”
The statement calls on the Ford government to repeal Bill 124, which limits regular annual salary increases for nurses and other public sector employees to one per cent for each 12-month period, provide Ontario health care workers with danger pay and implement the Canadian Armed Forces for emergency staffing in hospitals where needed across the province.
William Osler recommends that patients visit their family doctor for non-emergent concerns during the closure.
Osler’s other emergency departments, including those at Brampton Civic and Etobicoke General, remain open.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Putin's invasion of Ukraine an 'act of madness': former U.K. PM Blair says
The United Kingdom's former prime minister Tony Blair says Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine is an 'act of madness.' In an interview on CTV's Question Period airing Sunday, Blair said Putin doesn't appear to be the same man he knew in the early 2000s.

Severe thunderstorm, tornado warnings issued for southern Ont., Que.
As the May long weekend kicks off, Environment Canada has issued severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings for some parts of southern Ontario and Quebec.
Officials confirm 10 cases of severe acute hepatitis in children in Canada
Ten children in Canada were found to be suffering from severe acute hepatitis not caused by known hepatitis viruses over a nearly six-month period recently, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced Friday.
Australian Labor topples conservatives, PM faces early tests
Australia's center-left opposition party toppled the conservative government after almost a decade in power, and Prime Minister-elect Anthony Albanese in his Saturday election victory speech promised sharper reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while he faces an early foreign policy test.
Youngest of 10 Buffalo shooting victims laid to rest
Roberta Drury, a 32-year-old woman who was the youngest of the 10 Black people killed at a Buffalo supermarket, was remembered at her funeral Saturday for her love for family and friends, tenacity 'and most of all, that smile that could light up a room.'
Flu cases on the rise in Canada despite expected fall
The federal government is reporting a sharp rise in influenza in recent months, at a time of the year when detected cases generally start to fall in Canada.
'Hurts like hell': What goes into the price of gas in Canada
With the price of gas rising above $2 per litre and setting new records in Canada this year, CTVNews.ca looks at what goes into the price per litre of gasoline and where the situation could go from here.
A year of trauma, catharsis and finally peace for some survivors of Kamloops school
The nightmares started last May, said Harvey McLeod, chief of the Upper Nicola Indian Band and a survivor of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
Marineland bans lawyer, filmmaker and scientist among others from entering park
Marineland has banned a number of people from its premises, some of whom have never visited the Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction, days before the facility was set to open for the season.