Royal Alexandra Hospital sets up heaters in patient care, faces ‘infrastructure issues’

Extreme cold temperatures have led the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) to set up heaters in all patient care areas while “infrastructure issues” have cropped up Friday.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) says the RAH has burst water pipes in the ambulance bay and at the front entrance due to the cold, and heaters have been deployed to all patient care areas.

“Unfortunately, the extreme cold temperatures have created additional infrastructure challenges at the RAH this afternoon (Friday); water pipes have burst in the ambulance bay and in the front entrance,” said AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson in an emailed statement to CityNews.

“Work is underway to repair the damaged pipes and clean up the impacted areas.”

She says the heaters have been deployed to all patient care areas — particularly near doors — that are “colder than usual.”

Williamson says this is expected to remain in place for the remainder of the extreme cold.

This comes after AHS confirmed patients were being diverted from the RAH Friday morning due to the emergency department of the hospital having no heat. Diversions are no longer in place.

“EMS patients requiring specialized care provided at the RAH, including obstetrics, continued to have access to the RAH ED,” AHS said.

Officials said an air handling system issue caused by freezing temperatures was affecting the heating in the department and the triage and waiting room area was experiencing a heat disruption.

Temporary heaters had been set up in the emergency department’s waiting room.

However, Williamson says the heat was restored to the triage area and waiting room just after noon.

She says there has been “minimal impact” on patient care as other acute care sites in the Edmonton area have been able to provide support for emergency patients.

“Patients and visitors are being temporarily re-routed through a lower hospital entrance, and the ED and ambulance bay remain operational,” Williamson said.

-With files from Carly Robinson