February 13, 2013

Surrey Hospital suffers another water leak

The Surrey Memorial Hospital has been hit with another water leak in the emergency room, which was caused by construction work related to the expansion of the facility.

“There is expansion work occurring in our north lobby and a sprinkler system is being installed,” said Tasleem Juma, spokesperson for the Fraser Health Authority.

“Staff noticed some water dripping into the acute care area of the emergency department. It looks as though water was accumulating in the ceiling tiles and dripping into the acute care area.”

The incident happened on Feb. 6.

About 20 patients were moved to other areas of the hospital, but no patients were turned away from the ER.

This is the second time in the last few months that the emergency room at the hospital has suffered from water damage related to construction.

Flooding forced the evacuation of the emergency room on Nov. 19, 2012, when a construction crew operating an excavator damaged a water main on-site.

As a result, one of the largest emergency departments in BC was more than ankle deep in water.

Dozens of patients were diverted to other hospitals and surgeries were cancelled. The damage was estimated to be between $3 million and $6 million.

A major construction project is taking place at the hospital, which involves work on a new emergency department and a critical care tower.

JOC NEWS SERVICE

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