The Whitehorse General Hospital has been forced to postpone some surgeries due to a leak discovered on April 9 in the surgical services area, which is located on the ground floor of the territory’s main hospital in the capital. The Yukon Hospital Corporation has figured out that the leak in the surgical department involves the sprinkler system, according to an update from a hospital spokesperson on the evening of April 10. As a result, one of the two operating rooms will stay closed through April 11, thus some surgeries will be postponed again. The full impact on the number of surgeries won’t be known until next week, hospital spokesperson James Low said. Cancelled surgeries will be rebooked as fast as possible, per Low. Some surgeries, including urgent and emergency cases, will go ahead on April 10 and 11. “The team has rescheduled the day to prioritize urgent needs and maintain capacity for emergency cases,” he said. Low said staff are working to remediate and repair the leak. “There are very specific infection control standards and steps we have to follow within this area,” he said. “We won’t speculate at this time. If there were any specific concerns about safety, our teams would take the appropriate steps.” There is no timeline for a resolution, per Low. Surgeries were recently affected for about two months by a surgical tool sterilization issue. On-site sterilization returned late last week, and the hospital returned to full capacity on April 7. Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to note the leak was discovered on April 9, not the morning of April 10, after the Yukon Hospital Corporation corrected the information it provided to the News. — With files from Talar Stockton Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
Leak involving Whitehorse hospital sprinkler system shuts down more surgeries
