EVERETT — The new hospital tower was open less than a week before it suffered its first mishap.
A dislodged sprinkler head at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett sent hundreds of gallons of water spraying into a third-floor room outfitted with new radiology equipment late Monday night, said hospital spokeswoman Cheri Russum.
It took crews about a half hour to shut off the water. In the meantime, water seeped into a half-dozen surgical suites on the third floor and into several more on the second floor, she said.
Surgical units in the Colby building had just moved into the medical tower that day. However, no patients had to reschedule procedures.
The hospital already had a command center set up to deal with any mishaps. Once hospital administrators learned about what happened, they were able to move scheduled procedures to empty rooms in the older part of the hospital.
“We were able to maintain and add on cases the next day,” she said.
They don’t know yet what caused the sprinkler to malfunction, Russum said.
Officials don’t have a damage estimate. All the rooms should be repaired in one to two weeks.
The new medical tower is the most expensive single construction project ever undertaken by Providence Health & Services, the parent organization of the Everett hospital, which operates 28 hospitals in five western states.
The $460 million tower’s emergency room served its first patient June 15.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com
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