WINGHAM, ONT. -- Hospitals in Walkerton and Kincardine will be used to exclusively deal with COVID-19 patients in parts of Grey-Bruce.

Patients not dealing with COVID-19 are being moved from hospitals in Walkerton and Kincardine to hospitals in Chesley and Durham this week.

During the pandemic, all medical patients other than those with COVID-19 will be treated in Chesley and Durham.

Michael Barrett is president of the South Bruce Grey Health Centre.

“We have not started to see a surge of critical illness in our area yet, but it is imperative that we are prepared to support patients in our communities, if and when it does,” he says.

Recovery centres are being set up at arenas in Kincardine and Hanover to deal with possible overflow patients in all of Grey-Bruce. A similar overflow centre is planned at the Bayshore Arena in Owen Sound.

In Huron-Perth, health officials are working on the allocation of beds, but are not planning on opening any field hospitals or recovery centres as a result of COVID-19.

“We’re confident that the numbers we’ve been asked to address will fit within our existing hospitals across Huron-Perth. So we’re not contemplating field hospitals or anything like that, at this point in time,” says Andrew Williams, CEO of the Huron-Perth Healthcare Alliance.