Having sat idle for several years, the former psychiatric hospital south of St. Thomas could be pressed back into service during the COVID-19 pandemic. OPSEU president Warren ‘Smokey’ Thomas is floating the idea of reopening previously shuttered regional facilities like the St. Thomas centre and Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls to deal with the expected capacity crunch at existing hospitals during the pandemic.
Thomas stressed the province needs to get moving on this. MPP Jeff Yurek says he has already had conversations with St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston on that possibility.
Yurek stressed the Doug Ford government is open to any ideas to deal with a capacity crunch in the healthcare system as a result of the coronavirus.
