On Dec. 26, Samaritan Health in Watertown, N.Y., experienced a water main break at its health and wellness plaza. Appointments at the plaza’s family health center, residency training site and women’s care facility were shifted to telehealth, rerouted to another location or rescheduled. Its imaging, outpatient mental health and addiction services, walk-in lab and X-ray services were also affected.
The issue is now resolved, according to an update from the system.
The same day, a water main break and electrical fire caused Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pa., to evacuate two dozen patients. A flood from the water main break sparked the blaze at a loading dock and disrupted power in the evening, according to several reports.
The fourth floor of the 302-bed hospital was evacuated, and there were no reports of injuries.
Lastly, at 11:40 p.m. on Dec. 26, a chilled water pipe inside a wall burst and flooded Duke University Hospital’s emergency department and “ancillary areas,” according to a spokesperson. The academic medical center in Durham, N.C., transferred affected patients to nearby hospitals, a local news outlet reported.
“Currently, incoming ambulance patients are being temporarily referred to other nearby hospitals,” the spokesperson said. “Emergency patients who arrive [at the hospital] by their own means are being attended to in alternative sites at the hospital that were unaffected by the flooding.”
Duke Health said it is working to mitigate disruptions and resume normal operations as soon as possible.
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