WINNIPEG – A new walk-in clinic at Concordia Hospital will open next summer.

The new walk-in connected care clinic will provide access to care for people in the area in need of same-day health-care services, Minister Kelvin Goertzen said in a news release.

“This project builds on Concordia Hospital’s strength in family medicine and enhances the hospital’s role as a health resource to the surrounding community,” said Goertzen. “The changes will provide improved access to primary care providers in East Kildonan, North Kildonan and Transcona while extending the hours of walk-in care for the community.”

As many as half the people who come to Concordia’s emergency department on a daily basis could be appropriately cared for by physicians within a walk-in connected care clinic, said Goertzen.

The clinic will operate with extended hours daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. It will offer an alternative to urgent or emergency care for health concerns that are not life-threatening but which need to be addressed the same day.

The Concordia clinic will also have laboratory and diagnostic services on-site.

Concordia’s emergency department is slated to close mid-2019, freeing space that will be repurposed for the clinic, which is expected to open its doors shortly thereafter, the minister said.