(Watch: Officials are cleaning up another mess at the Misericordia after flooding there this morning. The issue has revived calls for a new hospital.)
EDMONTON – The NDP is once again calling on the Alberta Government to replace the Misericordia Hospital after the facility was impacted by flooding Thursday afternoon.
Rayne Kuntz with Covenant Health says there was a water leak on the second floor of the facility around 10:40 a.m. The Emergency Department was not directly impacted, but Kuntz says ambulances were diverted to other hospitals for several hours. The department was still accepting walk-ins. Kuntz says the diversion was in place until 2 p.m.
The cafeteria has been closed. Kuntz says eight ceiling tiles were lost – some cracked and fell to the ground, others were removed due to water damage. Covenant Health is working on plans to reopen the cafeteria to staff and visitors.
Kuntz says the flood happened in an area that is currently under construction as a result of last year’s flooding.
Health Minister Stephen Mandel said a command post was set up Thursday afternoon to make sure the patients were safe.
“Hopefully they’ll get things opening and operating as soon as possible.”
This isn’t the first time the facility has been hit with flooding. A flood in May 2013 forced more than 50 patients and more than 160 staff to be transferred to the Royal Alexandra Hospital. The hospital experienced flooding twice in just three weeks this past summer due to heavy rainfall.
READ MORE: Leaks at Misericordia Hospital not affecting patient care: Covenant Health
The PC government has long been under fire to replace the 45-year-old facility. Those calls were renewed Thursday afternoon by NDP Leader Rachel Notley.
“My message to our Minister of Health, who seems to think that after over 10 years of being told repeatedly by every expert within his ministry that we need to replace the Misericordia Hospital, that his decision that somehow this needs more deliberation and more study is absolutely ridiculous,” said Notley.
“It’s letting down the people of west Edmonton and this government needs to just step up and do its darn job.”
When asked about replacing the facility Thursday afternoon, Mandel would not give a solid yes or no. He says the province needs to look at the city and province as a whole.
“We’re evaluating the options, what we need to do,” Mandel said of the Misericordia. “The fact really exists that both Edmonton and Calgary have a shortage of acute care beds and when you look at plans, right now we’re just in the early stages of evaluating.”
Covenant Health says the Misericordia’s Institute of Reconstructive Medicine suffered damage in Thursday’s flood. Kuntz says Covenant Health does not yet know the extent of the damage.
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