Prairie Mountain Health has closed its designated drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at Brandon Town Centre and opened a new one.
The new drive-thru testing site opened today (Oct 8) off Van Horne Avenue East, between 14th and 17th Street East, at the Assiniboine Community College Campus.
Regular hours of operation will be Monday – Thursday 8:45 am to 6:00 pm and Friday – Sunday 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Residents are advised that the best way to access the new drive-thru site will be by travelling down Victoria Avenue East, then on to 17th Street East and then turning right on to Van Horne East. Take the first right off of Van Horne East into the parking lot. Watch for signage.
Additionally, effective October 8th, clients who do not have access to a vehicle and are unable to attend the drive-thru site are able to attend 7th Street Health Access Centre (20-7th Street).
Hours of operation are 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
Prairie Mountain Health tells us why the change was made:
1. Why is the Town Centre testing site closing? With cold weather looming, Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) has chosen this time to make as seamless as transition as possible to the new Van Horne drive-thru location, which allows for drive through clients, however, in an inside environment for staff to be protected from the elements.
2. Why is a testing site being opened at a new location? How was this location chosen? PMH needed to ensure a secure, indoor, drive-thru location was available. Van Horne site meets all the requirements to operate a safe COVID testing site.
3. Why was this change not announced publicly until the day of its closure? There were many factors associated with this move. Some were logistical to make sure we were ready to relocate to a new site without having any downtime in service. There are also staffing resources to consider as we were moving from one site, which still had to complete final day operations, to being prepared and comfortable to safely operate in a new location.
4. Can people without vehicles still access testing at the Van Horne Avenue East location? Or do they have to go to the Seventh Street Health Access Centre, which only performs COVID-19 tests during a short window of time in the afternoon? We advise people with vehicles to use the Van Horne location. People without access to vehicles should call the 7th Street Health Access Centre at 578-4800 (during weekdays) to review available options.
