The waiting area of the Accident and Emergency section of the Princess Margaret Hospital was negatively impacted after a pipe burst in the ceiling over the weekend, flooding that area of the hospital.
However, an official assured that no services were interrupted as a result.
According to Managing Director of the Public Hospitals Authority Herbert Brown, around 10:15pm on Sunday, patients had to be removed from the waiting section of Accident and Emergency after an old water pipe gave way and flooded the area.
Patients had to be transferred to another area of A and E, which was not compromised by the flood, he said.
Mr. Brown indicated that at no time did the flooding result in patients being turned away.
He said that along with the flooding in A and E, surrounding offices were also flooded and could not be used.
The managing director said that hospital engineers were promptly called to correct the problem and were able to temporarily patch the leaking pipe by 12:20 Monday morning.
He said, however, that due to the excessive water that had settled in that section, it was still not used until later in the day.
Mr. Brown reported that engineers were on Monday replacing the broken pipe to help prevent the problem from reoccurring.
He said the flooding was not out of the ordinary considering that the building was built many years ago.
“This is not unusual because considering that this is an old building over 30 years old and some of the fixtures have been here since the building was built, we would experience this type of problem from time to time,” Mr. Brown said.
He also reported that all corroded waterlines in the building will be changed.
Although the room was completely flooded, Mr. Brown said the hospital did not sustain any huge damage, except for the ceiling tiles.
He also indicated that the breakage of the waterline was not caused by the heavy downpour of rain over the weekend. Mr. Brown said it was simply a case of old plumbing fixtures.
But the rain did impact many businesses in New Providence. Several streets were flooded and some cars were stalled out.
The Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island was also impacted by Sunday’s inclement weather. A fire truck was seen removing water from the tunnel, which is used to access the Royal Towers. Apparently, the tunnel was flooded with the water covering the walkway section.
Employees from Royal Towers indicated that scores of guests who were scheduled to check into Royal Towers had to gain access to the resort from Coral Towers, which is located at the other end of the property.
Most of the water that had settled on the island had subsided by midday on Monday.
Showers continued on Monday and caused more flooding in some areas of New Providence.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
