Walk-in patients at Kingston children's clinic to be capped each day starting in June

Kingston clinic caps daily visits CTV's Jeremie Charron with the staffing shortages forcing the Kingston Health Science Centre to limit the number of kids treated each day.

Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) says it will be implementing a cap on the number of daily walk-in patients it accepts at the children's outpatient clinic (COPC) urgent care centre at the Hotel Dieu Hospital.

The hospital says the decision is meant to ensure the team can continue to provide safe and effective care.

The cap will be implemented starting Thursday. KHSC says the clinic will accept between 40 and 45 patients a day from that point forward. The lead physician and nurse will determine the cap each day, meaning the clinic may close earlier than usual some days.

"It is important to note that this patient capping only applies to walk-in visits," a news release says. "Appointments that are pre-booked with physicians, and other providers, who provide specialty care through the COPC clinics will continue as scheduled."

The children's outpatient clinic urgent care centre opens each weekday at 9 a.m. and will close when the cap is reached or at the usual closing time of 4 p.m., whichever comes first. It remains closed on weekends and holidays.

Patients who arrive after the doors have closed will be encouraged to seek care elsewhere, such as a walk-in or virtual care clinic, or the regular urgent care centre at the Hotel Dieu site if they are open. After hours, all individuals who have urgent medical concerns such as breathing difficulties, seizures, or severe pain can visit the Emergency Department at KHSC’s Kingston General Hospital site for care.