Linamar Corporation together with its Skyjack division is hosting one of three vaccination sites within the City of Guelph, Ontario to ensure rapid and efficient vaccination of the community. Longstanding Skyjack customer United Rentals has also partnered in this campaign to ensure material needed to help make this location a success is readily available.
“When our parent company Linamar came to us with this opportunity we knew we had the perfect space to support this initiative,” said Skyjack president Ken McDougall. “We typically host hundreds of customers throughout the year at our Customer Access Centre, and with travel restrictions the space has gone largely underutilized in recent months.”
Together the parent and subsidiary companies have transformed the building, located at 201 Woodlawn Rd. W. in Guelph, into a vaccination center for the Guelph community. This site is one of two privately-provided vaccination sites within Guelph, the other being at the University of Guelph. Together, there are now five vaccination centers in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph.
“Skyjack reached out to United Rentals about their equipment requirements to help make this vaccination site successful,” explains Scott Teron, district manager at United Rentals. “We were ready to help and are ensuring their team has all the equipment and solutions needed to transform their space into something that will benefit the whole community.”
After just a few weeks of comprehensive logistical planning, the vaccination center located at Linamar’s Skyjack division will be open as of Thursday, March 11, 2021.
“I am just so proud of our Vaccination Clinic Team, made up of dedicated people from inside and outside of our company, for the work they have done to launch the clinic in just a few short weeks,” said Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz. “We could not have achieved that without close collaboration with the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Unit and a strong unified team. We have created a fantastic partnership here in WDG that is a great example for other communities to follow. Vaccinating our entire population is the single most important factor towards getting back to a normal life and we are proud to play a role in that in our community.”
“I want to thank Linamar Corporation, their leadership, and staff for being an enthusiastic partner in our local COVID-19 vaccination program,” said Dr. Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health and CEO of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. “Their partner-led clinic site demonstrates true corporate leadership in a vital project for our region.”
Pre-registration is critical to ensuring a smooth vaccination roll-out within the region. Public Health has created an online portal to funnel everyone to, ensuring Public Health can contact them as soon as they’re able to book an appointment.
“Vaccinating 75% of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph by August will require an all-hands-on-deck approach,” explains Mercer. “Linamar’s participation is a key component of this approach and demonstrates the importance of working with partners including our large private corporations to quickly and efficiently reach this goal.”
The priority groups across Ontario remain the same, and the groups serviced at Skyjack and Linamar’s new vaccination center will follow those same protocols and procedures.
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