McMaster Children’s Hospital opens flu, COVID-19 and cold clinic – CBC

The city is also running pop-up flu shot clinics at various locations including Lime Ridge Mall until Dec. 21

Dec 12, 2022

McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH) in Hamilton is opening a flu, COVID-19 and cold clinic in the hospital’s lobby to ease pressures on its emergency department.

Starting Monday, the new walk-in clinic for patients aged 17 and younger, will be open Monday to Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.

This year, pediatric hospitals across Ontario have seen a high volume of patients with severe viral illnesses, including influenza, pneumonia, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

RSV is a viral infection that commonly affects children.

In mid-November, MCH’s emergency department was seeing upwards of 200 children a day, with wait times of 12 to 13 hours. Currently the average wait time for MCH is two and a half hours.

Data shows that RSV case numbers are stabilizing in the province, but some Ontario health experts are concerned there may be another spike after the holidays.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/mcmaster-children-s-hospital-clinic-and-flu-shots-1.6682154