Update at 1 p.m. – As a result of an electrical failure earlier this morning, parts of CKHA’s Chatham Campus continue to operate on emergency power systems. Over the course of the morning, a number of systems were brought back up, including the elevators located in east wing of the Campus. Full functionality has not been restored.
Today’s electrical failure resulted in a number of service cancellations, which are now being re-scheduled. There were a total of 189 scheduled patient visits impacted, inclusive of 49 scheduled surgical procedures and 140 diagnostic tests that are now being rebooked.
CKHA regrets the impact this situation has had on patients and families. “These are difficult decisions to make as we know that they are disruptive to patients and families. Some of the systems affected are limiting our ability to safely provide full service surgical and diagnostic imaging. While a difficult decision, it was important for us to put patient safety first and take the appropriate precautions by rescheduling those procedures and tests,” said Sarah Padfield, Chief Operating Officer.
The organization will provide another update once the system has been fully restored or any further decisions affecting scheduled visits are made.
Original story:
As a result of an electrical failure earlier this morning, some of CKHA’s Chatham Campus is currently operating on emergency power systems. At this time, the organization is trying to assess the full impact of the outage and will provide an update later today.
Emergency power systems provide sufficient but limited power. Other internal systems, such as air handling and the main link elevators have been impacted and as a result, the organization is re-scheduling surgical procedures, select ambulatory care visits and routine diagnostic procedures. Patient notifications are currently underway.
There has been no impact on the organization’s ability to support emergency procedures. As well, inpatient and emergency services continue to function.
CKHA has notified its regional partners and emergency response organizations about the situation. Under the direction of base hospital (EMS), select patients being transported by ambulance may be re-routed to other sites today.
Background on situation: At approximately 3:30 am this morning, CKHA’s Chatham Campus experienced a power failure as a result of an electrical failure. The on-call administration and engineering services responded to the situation, which was temporarily stabilized. At approximately 6:00 am this morning, as repairs were underway a breaker blew, which resulted in a power failure across the site and a reduction in functionality across systems. The main campus is currently operating on emergency power systems.
There were no injuries or patients directly impacted by the situation.
The organization continues to examine the situation.
