‘Waste of resources.’ More than 150 no-shows each day at COVID testing sites in Waterloo

WATERLOO REGION — More than 150 people booking tests aren’t showing up for their appointments because they are double booking and taking the slot that gets them in the earliest.

At Grand River Hospital’s testing site on Glasgow Street, there are more than 100 no-shows each day, said hospital spokesperson Cheryl Evans.

Every morning at 7 a.m., there are 550 appointments available which are posted online on a first-come, first-serve basis. By 7:30 a.m. all the spots are usually filled.

But during the past nine days, on average, only 449 swabs have been done. On Saturday, only 376 people showed up even though all 550 spots were filled.

“We understand people want peace of mind but it does reduce access to testing for others that need it,” Evans said.

Testing site providers say people not showing up and not having the courtesy of cancelling is “a waste of resources.”

“People are shopping around,” said Rex Mohamed, owner of the Kitchener-Waterloo-Wilmot-Wellesley-Woolwich (KW4) Community Assessment Centre on Westmount Road North in Waterloo.

Mohamed said when his clinic opens at 9 a.m. there are up to 80 people waiting on hold to speak to an operator to book an appointment.

“At 9 a.m. it’s a zoo,” he said.

Many are on hold with other local testing sites at the same time and simultaneously booking elsewhere, Mohamed said.

The clinic is seeing up to 40 no-shows a day.

“It’s a waste of resources” with nurses and doctors waiting around, he said.

Local clinics began to see a testing frenzy after schools opened last month and more people needed to be tested.

The Doug Ford government announced that all COVID testing must be arranged by appointment only after many centres were seeing hours-long waits.

The drive-thru testing centre for Grand River Hospital was closed one day last month after people began lining up at 3 a.m. and some people became impatient, directing threats and verbal abuse at staff.

As a measure to reduce wait times, the province said some pharmacies could test people who were asymptomatic. In Waterloo Region, three Shoppers Drug Marts offer testing.

Testing sites for St. Mary’s General Hospital and Cambridge Memorial Hospital are also seeing no-shows but in smaller numbers.

Rita Sharratt, director of Cambridge’s testing centre, said of the 180 appointments available a day, there are up to 10 no-shows.

For now, residents must call to book an appointment. They will not be put on hold. Instead, they must keep calling back.

Soon, an online booking system will be set up and the testing centre will be moving to a location on Holiday Inn Drive, she said.

At the St. Mary’s centre, about 200 appointments are available daily. Some residents do not show up. For now, appointments can only be made on the phone but the system will be available online shortly, said hospital spokesperson Anne Kelly.

The province asks residents who seek testing at assessment centres to only do so if they are showing symptoms, if they have been exposed to a confirmed case or need a test to return to school or daycare, if they work in a setting that has had an outbreak, if they require testing to visit a long-term care home or for international travel.

Liz Monteiro is a Waterloo Region-based general assignment reporter for The Record. Reach her via email: With files from Laura Booth, Record staff