An urgent care clinic is set to open at the Minden hospital that closed its emergency room earlier this month due to staff shortages.

All the emergency services have been transferred to the Haliburton Hospital 25 kilometers away.

Despite a large outcry from residents and calls for Health Minister Sylvia Jones to step in and impose a one-year moratorium on the closure, she declined, saying it was a local decision.

The Minden urgent care clinic is set to start by operating only on weekends, beginning with the Canada Day long weekend. It will be able to treat patients with unexpected but non-life-threatening conditions through walk-ins and booked appointments.