Bruce Power has provided a 50-bed pop-up facility to the Municipality of Leamington to assist in the COVID-19 fight as the Windsor-Essex region battles an outbreak affecting local agricultural workers.
The pop-up ‘isolation centre’, located at the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre in Leamington, includes beds, dividers, gloves, gowns and linens and is ready to be activated if or when it is needed. Bruce Power previously donated 20,000 masks and a quantity of hand sanitizer to assist the County of Essex, and working through the Ontario Ministry of Health, arranged for the mobile 50-bed pop-up facility.
“We secured the hospital equipment for just this type of situation and we want Ontario to know we’re here for you and that by working together, we will get through this and come out of this pandemic stronger and more united than we’ve ever been,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s President and CEO. “When we work together, good things happen an as our economy begins to recover our collective commitment to safe practices, such as good hand hygiene, physical distancing, cleaning, and wearing a mask when less than 2-metres apart are more important than ever.”
“We would like to thank Bruce Power for the very generous donation of isolation pods,” said Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald. “This proactive measure will provide additional isolation space should the need arise as we continue to combat COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex. A municipality our size cannot do this on our own, and it is reassuring to know we have partners like Bruce Power coming to the aid of our community.” In April, the Bruce Power Retooling and Economic Recovery Council (www.rerc.ca) was formed to operate for the duration of the pandemic and includes all of Bruce Power’s Ontario-based suppliers, many of whom are located in rural communities across the province. The focus has been and will be on continued retooling of the supply chain to meet front-line COVID-19 needs and to contribute to the province’s economy recovery in the short, medium and long term. Many of these partners are involved in Bruce Power’s Life-Extension Program, which is the largest private sector infrastructure project in Canada.
“Bruce Power and its partners in the Ontario nuclear supply chain have demonstrated incredible leadership and caring since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Lisa Thompson, Minister of Government and Consumer Services and MPP for Huron-Bruce. “While continuing to provide clean, reliable electricity for Ontario throughout the crisis, they have also delivered medical isotopes for sterilization and stepped up to support Ontario with Personal Protective Equipment for front line workers during this time of need.”
Since April 1, Bruce Power has provided approximately 1.5-million pieces of PPE to health-care, front-line, essential-needs and other workers in Grey, Bruce and Huron counties in addition to other parts of Ontario.
“On behalf of the County of Essex, we want to thank Bruce Power and its employees for their generosity and willingness to lend a helping hand,” said Essex County Warden Gary McNamara. “By working together, we will combat the threat of COVID-19 in our communities.”
Bruce Power will also be hosting an online event, Thursday, July 9 at 4 p.m. with Dr. Deepali Kumar of University Health Network. Dr. Kumar will discuss world-leading COVID-19 trials and research into faster testing for front-line health care workers. Dr. Kumar will be joined by Mike Rencheck and James Scongack of Bruce Power as well as Jeff Parnell, President of the Power Workers’ Union, to discuss the unique partnership to support Dr. Kumar’s research. Registration is required and can be completed at: https://kastio.com/uhn-pwu
source: media release, Bruce Power
