News & stories

On December 8, Waterloo Regional Health Network’s moved its COVID testing centre to a new, more winterized location at Charles and Ontario streets in Kitchener (the old bus terminal). The new site provides more protection for staff, residents and testing equipment from cold and inclement weather.

Waterloo Regional Health Network, in consultation with Region of Waterloo Public Health, has declared a retroactive outbreak of COVID-19 on 5 Centre, part of its medicine program.

Waterloo Regional Health Network, in consultation with Region of Waterloo Public Health, has declared an outbreak of COVID-19 on one of its medicine units, 5S or the clinical teaching unit. As a result of the outbreak, the hospital has closed the unit to any new patient admissions.

It’s been 20 years since Waterloo Regional Health Network’s Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) began offering client-centred, recovery-oriented mental health support to our community. As ACTT celebrates this milestone anniversary of service to the community, we’re highlighting the important work this team is doing across our region and sharing a little bit about how their work has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2018, as Waterloo Regional Health Network prepared to turn off our old systems and move to a new health information system (HIS) that would transform the way we deliver care, hospital leadership wondered, “Where are we going to store 30 years of data and what can we do with it?” The result is a first-in-Canada approach to storing and using our data through the Amazon Web Services (AWS) data lake cloud solution.

On November 2, 2010, the Specialized Mental Health Unit at Waterloo Regional Health Network's Freeport Campus was officially opened. Ten years later, the team is pausing for few moments to reflect on an incredible journey so far: To learn from the lessons of the past, to honor those that have made a lasting impact, and just as important, to share a laugh.

October is OT month! Occupational therapists (OT) are integral to the interprofessional team and work in a variety of WRHN programs. We asked a few of our OTs about their experience as an OT at WRHN, and particularly about being an OT during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what they had to share.

Through careful conservation and preservation, including innovative practices like reprocessing N95 masks for future use, and through generous donations from our community, WRHN made it through the first wave with the right equipment to support safe care. Today, WRHN is managing a PPE and supply warehouse for our region and beyond.

This summer we asked our community to participate in a COVID-19 Lessons Learned Survey to help us better understand the hospital’s initial response to the pandemic. We promised we would get back to you with results, and we are pleased to share them with you. Click here to learn more.

The development of our 5-year strategic plan is back underway after a pause required to respond to COVID-19. Now more than ever, paving a strong path forward is vital to ensuring we continue providing exceptional care to our community.