ATLANTA — It could be two to three months before some patient wings at Grady Memorial Hospital are back to normal after a pipe broke over the weekend, officials said Monday.
The 24-inch water pipe burst Saturday afternoon, causing flooding on the sixth floor of the medical center. Repairs to the pipe are complete, but the hospital suffered water damage on three floors and electrical issues, Grady officials said in a statement.
The electrical problems should be fixed by Wednesday, the hospital said. One of the patient care floors affected by the flooding is expected to reopen within a week. But two other floors may not be operational for two to three months.
Grady, considered a regional leader in trauma care, instituted a “total diversion” of emergency patients. That means paramedics are being asked to take patients with emergencies to other hospitals. The diversion is expected to be in place until at least Wednesday, the hospital said.
The hospital also plans to transfer 150 of its 700 patients to other medical centers; many of those transfers have already been completed.
Channel 2's Audrey Washington went to the hospital and spoke to people who noticed some of the issues inside. One woman said the elevators were impacted by the work.
“I think just one set was working,” said Sandra Stroud.
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Patient Lenise Westbrook thinks the repairs should move faster.
“I think that they should have enough money to take care of this matter,” Westbrook said.
Grady officials said they will continue to divert serious patients to other facilities and work with the doctors at those other locations.
The hospital will also keep re-assessing the progress to hopefully get things back to normal, sooner.
Information from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was used in this report