Work to repair flood damage to Vanderhoof’s St. John Hospital is underway.
A detailed assessment of damage caused by the failure of a hot water heater on the hospital’s second floor is complete, and a specialized restoration company with experience in health care sites has been awarded the contract to complete the cleanup and reconstruction work.
The quick response of St. John Hospital staff and others to move water from the building is being credited with helping to limit the extent of the flood damage. The facility’s Operating Room and post-surgical Recovery areas were most significantly impacted, along with some damage to labour & delivery, and sterile processing departments.
Northern Health expects the work to prepare damaged areas for reconstruction will take approximately three weeks. As the preparatory phase starts, we will have a clearer understanding of what reconstruction will be necessarily and the length of time that work will take.
St. John Hospital’s emergency department, inpatient areas, oncology services, laboratory and medical imaging departments, which were not significantly impacted by the flooding, remain fully operational.