Barrie’s former police headquarters will serve an important public health purpose for the foreseeable future.

To address overwhelming demand, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre opened a new COVID-19 testing clinic at Sept. 28. It currently offers pre-booked appointments.

Later this week, the Sperling site will allow drive-thru testing from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., letting the clinic at the RVH campus on Georgian Drive begin operating on shortened hours (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) seven days per week.

“Our on-site COVID-19 test clinic has seen an overwhelming spike in visits recently, going from an average 230 people per day to a staggering 500 or more,” chief nursing executive Liz Ferguson said. “In fact, we will soon surpass 25,000 swab tests completed since opening six months ago.”

The RVH campus clinic is expected to close and fully relocate to Sperling within the next two weeks. By November, the Sperling clinic will become a full COVID-19 assessment centre, offering similar services to the site at .

The Sperling site has sat vacant since earlier this year, when police moved into the new Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services Campus on Fairview Road. 

COVID-19 appointments at Sperling can be booked at .