Deeside Rainbow Hospital to close on Friday – Mass Vaccination Centre at Leisure Centre will remain until July

Deeside Rainbow Hospital is to be stood down this week as demand for hospital beds in the region reduces.

The temporary 250 bed hospital, built within Deeside Leisure Centre at the beginning of the Pandemic, began to admit patients in November as a second wave of Coronavirus infections took hold.

It will close on Friday though the Mass Vaccination Centre also within the leisure centre will remain until July.

The health board has stressed the closing of the hospital in Deeside, one of three Rainbow sites to be built in North Wales, is not a “sign that any of us can let our guard down” from COVID-19.

The site will be handed back to Aura Leisure, the organisation which runs Deeside Leisure Centre, by July 31st.

Yesterday Aura revealed the leisure centre will reopen late summer with a new look gym, redesigned skatepark and the ice rink will open back up to the public.

Mark Wilkinson, Executive Director of Planning and Performance, said: “Our three Rainbow Hospitals were established at the beginning of the pandemic to ensure that we were able to respond to the worst case scenario of our existing hospitals becoming overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.”

“All three hospitals have since been utilised as COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Centres, but we have only needed to provide inpatient care at Ysbyty Enfys Deeside.”

“Demand for beds at Deeside has reduced significantly in recent weeks, because of lockdown measures and the continued rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.”

“Because we are confident that we can accommodate demand at our existing sites, the inpatient beds at Ysbyty Enfys Deeside will close this Friday 26 March.”

“This decision should not be taken as a sign that any of us can let our guard down.”

“We are continuing to monitor and forecast demand across North Wales and we remain vigilant to the threat posed by COVID-19.”

“As shown on Anglesey, cases can rise quickly, so it’s important we all still follow the guidance in place.”

“As we look ahead to offering vaccination to all eligible adults by the end of July, we have agreed with our partners that the Mass Vaccination Centres at Ysbyty Enfys Deeside and Ysbyty Enfys Llandudno will be handed back by 31^st July.

A gradual decommission of Ysbyty Enfys Bangor will begin in April and will be completed by September.

“We have plans in place to continue to provide vaccination through our network of Local Vaccination Centres (LVCs) after these dates, and I want to provide an assurance that the speed and safety of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout will not be compromised.

“We remain extremely grateful for the incredible support of our partners at Flintshire County Council, Conwy County Borough Council and Bangor University.

I would also like to say a special thank you to our wonderful staff, who have worked diligently to provide high quality, safe care to patients throughout this challenging period.”