Flooding temporarily closes Cumberland ER

AMHERST, N.S. — Emergency services were restored at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre on Wednesday after overnight flooding forced hospital officials to divert patients elsewhere in the facility and to nearby hospitals.

“We had an unexpected significant flooding last night at approximately 1:30 a.m. in the emergency department," hospital health services manager Kate Macwilliams told the Saltwire Network.

"There were no injuries, but we had to have an internal code grey situation an decamp the emergency department of all patients. We moved them to a variety of places within the hospital and any patients that were able to be discharged, were discharged.”

After the incident, EHS began diverting ambulances from the hospital with both All Saints Hospital in Springhill and North Cumberland Memorial Hospital in Pugwash stepping up to assist, while at least one acute patient was treated elsewhere within the hospital.

Macwilliams said during the day on Wednesday, May 4, patients were being sent to hospitals in Pugwash and Springhill, as well as Tatamagouche. ER services were restored later in the day at the regional hospital.

“We’ve relocated a portion of the emergency department to another area of the hospital,” she said.

It’s not known how long the emergency department will be out of commission.

“We’re working with our facilities team, and infection prevent and control, to make sure everything gets dried out and we can reuse the space. Over the next couple of days we’ll have some assessments that need to be done and we will be continuing to deliver the care services in the alternate location,” Bethany Mccormick, the northern region’s vice-president, operations, said. “We’ll have an updated timeline later in the week.”

Until further notice, patients needing emergency care are being asked to use the hospital’s main entrance as the emergency department is closed. The temporary emergency department is operating with reduced space and those seeking care may experience extended wait times.

“Things might not look or feel the same as they did before, but we’re here providing care and the doors are open,” Mccormick said. “We’re just asking people to be patient with the change and we’ll do our very best to deliver the best patient care we can.”