Oromocto ER closure expected to last until late summer
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 | 9:27 AM ET
CBC News
The Oromocto Public Hospital's emergency room and diagnostic imaging department will likely be closed for the rest of the summer after a water pipe broke in the facility in May.
The water ruined an X-ray machine and severely damaged the electrical system in the hospital, according to Nicole Tupper, the executive director of the Oromocto and Fredericton hospitals.
"We're looking at now probably late summer, maybe early fall at the latest. But we're hoping that it may be sooner and our contractors are certainly doing their very best to get the work completed as quickly as possible," said Tupper.
Tupper said the hospital has had to replace every wire, light switch and outlet in the facility, with total costs estimated at $360,000.
The Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton is caring for patients who would normally visit the Oromocto hospital.
"All of the physicians who were working in the emergency room in Oromocto, we've just taken their schedule and moved it directly to the Chalmers hospital," Tupper said.
The emergency room nurses from Oromocto are working at the Chalmers as well, she said.
Jean MacDonald, an Oromocto resident, said it's not that easy for her to get to the Fredericton hospital.
"[I could] call a neighbour, what else would I do? I don't have a car. I'm a senior," MacDonald said.
