The Saint John COVID-19 test centre that did not open

Questions are still being asked about the closure of a COVID-19 testing centre at Saint John's Exhibition Park earlier this week.

After being set up over a three-day period, the centre was abruptly shut down Tuesday and moved to the much smaller North End Wellness clinic on Victoria Street.

In a statement Wednesday, Horizon Health vice-president Jean Daigle said the clinic provides a more "central, accessible location to the most vulnerable segments of the city's population."

The wellness centre was set up several years ago in the neighbourhood where many of the residents are on low incomes.

Many people living in the area do not have cars.

Daigle also said the Victoria Street location allowed more immediate access to technology, equipment and staffing.

But the change left Coun. John MacKenzie scratching his head.

"This is really concerning," said MacKenzie. "We're a major city, and they're doing this right across the country, and the one that they had set up out at [the exhibition] is exactly like the ones set up in major centres across the country. And to have it torn down and moved out of there, that is concerning."

At a Horizon Health media update Friday, Dr. Ken Gillespie, chief of staff of Moncton Hospital, said he was not "intimately involved" with the Saint John testing centre but said it has been a "colossal feat" to get the clinics set up across the province.