A break in a washroom pipe caused damage to 25 per cent of the space at Lake of the Woods District Hospital, hospital officials confirmed Friday.
The incident occurred on May 6, with officials originally saying an “infrastructure failure” led to significant water damage.
In a news release Friday, a spokesperson for the hospital said a break in a one-inch pipe occurred in a fourth-floor washroom.
“While the pipe itself is relatively small, under typical building pressure, a break of this size can release a significant volume of water in only minutes,” Charlene Kissick, senior communications specialist, said in the release.
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Kissick said a prompt response by hospital staff played a “critical role” in limiting the extent of damage.
“The assessment and restoration team has advised that, overall, the outcome could have been significantly more severe,” she said.
Officials previously said the hospital has extensive aging infrastructure, with select portions of the hospital dating back as far as 1929.
A facility condition assessment undertaken at LWDH in 2021 identified $53.8 million in deficiencies across key hospital systems. Hospital officials say this number has been reduced to $37.2 million with support from the government of Ontario.
Last fall, the province also renewed its promise to provide $50 million for a new hospital in Kenora.
The province says the new hospital will modernize the ER, expand diagnostic imaging services and provide Indigenous health spaces.
Kissick said the hospital will be working with external experts on the restoration process to help protect the aging infrastructure and “support safe operations moving forward.”
With the May long weekend and the summer season ahead, the hospital is reminding residents and visitors to take precautions as the damage further impacts existing capacity issues.
The ER department remains open but all surgeries have been cancelled.
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