ATLANTA — Following a pipe burst on Saturday afternoon, Grady Memorial Hospital officials say it could take two-to-three months for some patient care floors to be restored and operational.
The 24-inch pipe has been fixed, as of Monday, but repairs of damage to areas of the hospital are ongoing, officials said.
Electrical issues are expected to be resolved by Wednesday and the "total diversion" will be lifted.
They say one of the impacted patient care floors will reopen and be fully functional within a week, but the other two affected patient care floors are expected to take up to three months.
"To ensure the highest level of care for our patients, the pipe break led to the decision to transfer to other hospitals up to 150 of the 700 patients being cared for in the hospital at the time of the incident," Grady Memorial Hospital media relations manager Denise Simpson said. "At this time, many successful transfers have been completed."
Because Grady’s emergency and trauma services have been and remain on diversion, they said other area hospitals have seen a marked increase in their patient volumes.
"We continue to work collaboratively with those providers to expedite the transfer process, keeping the best interest of the patient at the forefront of our decisions," Simpson said.
Visitation is also restricted at the Downtown Atlanta hospital "to ensure the safety of guests" as repair teams "work around the clock."
"We are constantly reassessing our ability to resume normal operations," Simpson added.
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