Procedures postponed after water pipe bursts at hospital

More than 50 medical procedures were postponed or moved from Pasqua Hospital after a water pipe in the gastro-intestinal (GI) unit burst Wednesday evening.

According to a news release from the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, the burst pipe caused damage to the GI unit and areas in the floors beneath it, including the medical surveillance unit (MSU), cardiac function clinic and radiology. Multiple departments are working to clean and repair the affected areas.

Eight patients were transferred from the MSU to other units within the hospital. Those patients were expected to be transferred back to the MSU on Thursday afternoon.

The radiology department was reopened Thursday morning. The GI unit is expected to be operational by Friday morning, but work will continue in one room in the unit due to extensive damage.

The health region started notifying patients and physicians on Wednesday evening to inform them about the postponed procedures, which will be rescheduled in the next two weeks.

No more postponements are expected at this time.

“The safety of our patients is of the utmost importance to us. We apologize profusely for this sudden need to postpone or move their procedures, and ask for their understanding,” said Dr. David McCutcheon, vice-president of physician and integrated health services, in a news release.