MINDEN, ONTARIO — Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones says an urgent care clinic is set to open at the site of a closed emergency room in Minden.

Haliburton Highlands Health Services closed the ER at its Minden hospital site as of June 1 due to staff shortages and transferred all emergency services to its Haliburton site, about 25 kilometres away.

Despite a large outcry from residents and calls for Jones to step in and impose a one-year moratorium on the closure, she declined, saying it was a local decision.

Jones is announcing today that the province will provide funding to the Kawartha North Family Health Team to open an urgent care clinic there.

She did not specify the amount of funding.

The Minden urgent care clinic is set to start by operating only on weekends, beginning with the Canada Day long weekend and will be able to treat patients with “unexpected but non-life-threatening” conditions through walk-ins and booked appointments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.

The Canadian Press