Operating rooms at Campbellford Memorial Hospital will be closed for the remainder of July to address electrical and other issues.
The closure at the hospital, located 55 kilometres southeast of Peterborough, went into effect on Monday. On Thursday, the hospital issued a statement saying the operating rooms are being closed on a temporary, unplanned basis.
”The decision to temporarily close the ORs is being done on a precautionary basis to address some electrical, facility and equipment-related issues, which have been recently identified,” stated president and CEO Varouj Eskedjian.
Paul Nichols, chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, says they and management are committed to the health and safety of all employees, physicians and patients.
“It is for this reason why we have taken the proactive step of temporarily closing the operating rooms through the rest of July,” he stated.
The hospital has notified patients and surgeons regarding the unplanned closure and will be temporarily reassigning operating room nursing staff to provide assistance and support across the rest of the organization until the issues are addressed. Plans are also being made to explore performing routine scope type procedures in an alternate part of the hospital outside of the operating rooms.
“The safety of patients, staff, and physicians is the most important responsibility we have and it is for that reason we do not want anyone in the operating rooms until the safety issues can be thoroughly assessed and fixed,” said Eskedjian.
“Immediate efforts are being made to attain expert third-party advice regarding the extent and cost of facility and equipment issues requiring remediation to expedite getting the surgical program back into operation.”
WATCH (January 2019): Hospital funding in Campbellford