General ER partially reopens after fire
CBC News | Posted: October 31, 2023 8:22 PM | Last Updated: October 31, 2023
Hospital making 'considerable progress' returning patients to units
The emergency room at The Ottawa Hospital General campus is now open to higher acuity patients who are transported by ambulance, four days after a transformer fire forced the relocation of dozens of patients and shut power to parts of the hospital.
On Friday afternoon, a hydro vault on the hospital's third floor caught fire while workers were in the process of replacing it.
Although no patients were on the third floor — as the space is devoted to mechanical works — about 100 patients in the floors above were forced by smoke and debris damage to relocate within the building or to other facilities.
Those patients are now returning to their original units.
"We were able to fully relocate one unit [Tuesday], and we will continue this process in the coming days," a hospital spokesperson said in an email.
Although the General campus emergency room has started accepting some patients, the hospital is still advising the general public to head elsewhere.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the General campus remains in a Code Orange, which allows it to divert patients to other emergency departments.
Corrections:- A previous version of this story said the ER was now accepting lower acuity patients. The Ottawa Hospital later said it made an error in its release, and the ER is actually accepting higher acuity patients. October 31, 2023 11:36 PM