Emergency services are available at the Misericordia Hospital again Friday morning. The emergency department was closed on Monday after a leak was detected.
Alberta Health Services announced on Thursday the ER would re-open Friday.
“We would like to thank people for their patience during this temporary closure, and apologize for any inconvenience this unanticipated situation has caused,” said Dr. Owen Heisler, a chief medical officer with Covenant Health said in a news release.
Repairs will be ongoing in the ER, AHS said, but emergency care will be available in the unaffected areas.
“This was a challenging situation, and we would like to thank everyone across the zone involved in the response to this temporary closure,” Dr. David Zygun, AHS medical director for the Edmonton Zone, said. “Once again, our teams showed their willingness to go above and beyond to ensure patients continued to receive the care they need, when they need it.”
Day surgeries have been relocated to the fifth floor so the ER can expand into that department until repairs are done. AHS said there would be no impact on surgical patients.
At around 3 p.m. on Monday, water started flooding the department from a toilet in the ER.
Originally it was thought the emergency department would only be closed until Wednesday, but officials said it would be “a couple of days” on Tuesday.
About 16 patients who were in the ER at the time were moved to other parts of the hospital.
Ambulances were directed to other hospitals and other Edmonton-area hospitals called in more staff as a result of the closure. Between 120 and 140 people are seen a day at the Misericordia.
– With files from Slav Kornik & Sarah Kraus, Global News