Erie Shores HealthCare (ESHC) in Leamington is launching a new clinic dedicated to measles.
Speaking on AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg, ESHC CEO Kristen Kennedy says the hospital has decided to open a pre emergency room measles assessment clinic.
She says the clinic is located in a trailer outside of the hospital and opened Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.
Kennedy says patients will be assessed at the clinic to see if they have been exposed to measles and need to go home and isolate or if they need higher level of care in the emergency department.
She says the hospital has seen a rise in unvaccinated exposure cases as well as those with measles symptoms in the emergency room over the last 72-hours.
"As a hospital, we're trying to see how we can minimize exposure within the hospital and also some of the disruption to the ER because once we have a measles patient there are certain areas of the hospital we have to close down for about a half an hour once a patient leaves," she says.
Kennedy says the clinic will assist patients who feel they have been exposed and require emergency care.
"They're able to come to a specific area outside of the hospital in a trailer and be accessed for their symptoms to determine if they have been exposed and they can go home and isolate and contact public health or if they need higher level of care in the emergency room," says Kennedy.
She says the hospital will be doing active and passive screening at the main entrance of the hospital and the emergency room entrance.
"Individuals will be directed to the clinic and/or we're still advising that individuals do contact us in advance and most of our patients have been doing that over the course of the last few weeks," she says. "So we would continue to encourage that that's happening so that we can prepare accordingly."
The clinic will be staffed by registered nurses and registered practical nurses.
It will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Some symptoms of measles include high fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes, and a distinctive red rash.
The hospital is asking those who feel they require hospital assessment or care, to visit the measles clinic directly.