The Pediatric Urgent Medical Assessment Centre at Windsor Regional Hospital Met Campus opens Tuesday.
Hospital officials opened the centre because they expect a surge of children needing COVID-19 tests as cases rise and students return to the classroom.
"Those children do not have access to the vaccine, they cannot be vaccinated at this point. So they are at a very high risk for exposure and potentially getting COVID-19," said Chief Nursing Officer Riddell.
The assessment centre will aim to have same day and next day appointments available on an on-going basis.
"The public health unit notifies us when there's a school cohort dismissed or a daycare cohort dismissed. They let us know, real time, how many people to expect and when they are going to require testing. So we're able to scale up as needed," said Riddell.
The centre is not an children's emergency department. All children needing immediate medical attention should continue to go to the emergency department.
Any child who needs a COVID-19 assessment is encouraged to book at the paediatric clinic and not at the assessment centre at the Ouellette Campus. However, children will not be turned away at Ouellette Campus assessment centre.
Appointments can be booked online through the Windsor Regional Hospital website.
