Essential equipment back up at Albany Memorial Campus after faulty pipe burst

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - A flooding event took place at Albany Memorial Campus on Friday afternoon causing the building to be evacuated. The hospital is closed, and the emergency department is on diversion until further notice. According to the hospital, efforts are underway to have a plan by 10 a.m. on Sunday as to when the hospital will reopen.

According to Kim Baker, Senior Vice President of Hospital Operations at Saint Peter's Hospital, a pipe on the first floor burst on Friday and caused significant water damage to the area of the first floor and subfloors.

"The damage included our network, our elevators, and some of our clinical equipment, we had some challenges with chillers," Baker said.

Cleanup crews from both Quick Response, and facilities workers aided in cleanup on Friday and Saturday to remove water from inside the building. Baker said the cause of the burst was due to the copper closure cap on the pipe coming off and flooding the area on the first floor. However, she said due to emergency readiness drills often practiced by the staff, everyone was prepared when the pipe cap came off.

"We immediately implemented an incident command based on that work and that readiness work, so I am very, very happy with our response; it was swift; it was quick," Baker said.

During the burst, no one was injured, but 22 patients, 12 from the emergency department and 10 outpatients, were transferred either home, or to one of four other locations in the Capital Region by ambulance or wheelchair van. According to the hospital, operations at Saint Peter's Hospital, Samaritan Hospital, Ellis, and Albany Medical Center had to be shifted to accommodate these 22 patients.

"We are staffing our emergency department with providers and nurses to accommodate walk-in patients, but we've also redirected our staff to our emergency department to accommodate the additional volume," Baker said.

According to the hospital, the building does have all the essential equipment up and running, including both hot and running water, HVAC, boilers, and IT infrastructure. The hospital said the power was never lost during the burst.

According to Baker, some people have tried to walk into the hospital, but the number of people coming to the building since diversion has been largely reduced, and those with upcoming appointments have been in contact with the hospital on how to get the treatment they need.