The East End Urgent Care Centre was officially unveiled yesterday with Government boasting it had come in on time and on Budget.

However the $7.8 million centre will not be open for urgent cases during the day but will run from 4 p.m. to midnight and from noon to midnight on weekends.

But it will offer other services such as diagnostic services, blood tests and X-rays during the day.

The unit, in Southside, St. David's, opened on April 1 to treat minor illnesses and injuries.

At yesterday's grand launch Hospitals Chief of Staff Donald Thomas said: "For anyone who suffers a minor injury or illness in the Eastern half of the island in the evening or weekend, there is now a more convenient, faster service for you."

It will be manned during hurricanes, said Dr. Thomas, plugging a health care gap residents in St. George's and St. David's have had to face every time there was a storm and the causeway was closed.

Dr. Thomas added: "Additionally, in the event of disaster, such as an incident at the airport, we now have a disaster base from which we can triage and stabilise people."

He said the diagnostic service will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. allowing blood tests, X-rays and ultrasound, saving patients a journey into the hospital.

Asked why there was no urgent care service during the day Dr. Thomas said the decision was based on expected need in the East End.

He added: "Our opening times for urgent care centre cases at the moment reflect the fact that we expect the highest need to be in the evening, weekends and public holidays, when East End GPs are closed and people who live in the East are at home.

"Manning the urgent care centre with physicians and nurses before there is a clear indication of need would not be a wise use of Bermuda's health care resources. But we recognised that diagnostic technologists would be useful to support physician referrals in the day.

"However, this is a community facility and BHB will revise its opening hours if it becomes apparent there is a need for the urgent care centre services to be available in the day."

Also at yesterday's launch Health Minister Nelson Bascome said one patient had spotted the queue at King Edward VIII Memorial Hospital and had driven east to take advantage of the new centre. Mr. Bascome said: "This represents another promise made and a promise kept by Government."

Government spent $5.3 million while Bermuda Hospitals Board put in about $2.5 million.

Chief of Emergency Services Edward Schultz, said the centre was an important part of the Island's overall emergency service.

He said: "It will provide a convenient, close-to-home alternative to a late night or weekend wait in the hospital's emergency department for people with minor illnesses and injuries."

He said the facility will reduce the burden on the emergency department at the main Paget hospital which saw 36,148 emergency visits in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2009.

"This translates to long waits for people with minor illnesses and injuries as our triage ensures that the people with more serious and potentially life-threatening conditions are seen first," said Dr. Shultz. "Our motto has been that for someone with a minor illness or injury their wait could save a life."

With the Urgent Care Centre, such people now had the option of not waiting but heading to a centre to cater for their needs.

Known as the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre it has been named after St. David's medical legends Susan Lamb who treated St. David's Islanders and birthed babies in the late 1800s to mid-1990s when there were no doctors stationed in the East End and Annie Foggo who also treated people, often with homemade remedies.