Water damage closes emergency department at Misericordia hospital
Flooding caused by a broken toilet valve has forced the Misericordia Community Hospital to shut down its emergency department for at least two days.
The closure means ambulances and patients must be redirected to the region’s other hospitals, which have been prepared for an increase in traffic, Alberta Health Services said in a Monday news release.
The Misericordia’s ER handles more than 50,000 patient visits a year, or about 140 per day on average.
“A number of emergency department staff will remain in place at the Misericordia, to assess and support walk-in patients who are unaware of the closure,” the AHS release said.
Patients who were in the Misericordia emergency department at the time of the leak are being treated in other parts of the hospital.
The unit is expected to reopen some time on Wednesday, assuming it is deemed safe for patients, AHS said.
A spokeswoman for Covenant Health, which operates the Misericordia, said the extent of the damage was still being assessed late Monday afternoon.
Fran Ross said the leak occurred around 3 p.m. Sunday and was noticed immediately. The flooding was triggered by the failure of a valve on a high-pressure water line that was connected to a toilet in one of the emergency department’s three bathrooms, she said.
The cause of the valve break is still being investigated, but it appears to have occurred during normal use of the bathroom, Ross said. The facility was not being repaired or serviced at the time of the break.
In addition to the emergency department, a physiotherapy unit on a lower floor suffered a small amount of damage, Ross said. That unit has been temporarily closed and patient appointments are being rescheduled.
The 49-year-old hospital in the city’s west end has had other issues with water leaks, including a massive flood in the spring of 2013 that caused substantial damage to three floors.
That flood, which also involved a broken valve, was attributed to human error during plumbing work.
More modest floods occurred in July and November 2013, followed by a drainage issue in the sterilization area in late 2014.
The province has contributed more than $25 million to the hospital over the last three years in an attempt to curb some of the most pressing maintenance issues.
As well, plans are being finalized for a new $65-million emergency department expected to open in 2023 that will triple the size of the current cramped unit.
Covenant Health has pitched the ER redevelopment as the first phase of a much broader overhaul of the entire hospital site.