All patients removed from Kaiser Woodland Hills amid temporarily closure after water main break
WOODLAND HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Kaiser Permanente officials say services and facilities at its Woodland Hills medical center will be temporarily closed after a main break left the hospital without water service for several days.
The hospital remained open with reduced services for a few days since the break happened Saturday night. By Wednesday, there were no patients left in the hospital, which was directing them to the closest facilities, officials said. Outpatient services would not be available as well.
"Because the timeline for restoring water at the medical center campus is now estimated to be Saturday, January 25, we have determined that the safest decision for our members, patients, physicians and staff is to temporarily close services and facilities at this location,'' Kaiser Permanente said.
"We will reopen once it has been confirmed, with an abundance of caution, that it is safe to return to normal operations," said the hospital's Murtaza Sanwari.
Kaiser's urgent care service and emergency department will also be temporarily closed. Its 24-Hour Pharmacy will remain open for prescription pickups only.
The facility anticipates it can reopen as early as Saturday after testing for its temporary water line is complete and passes safety regulations.
Surgeries and appointments were canceled in the wake of the main break.
The hospital lost water service Saturday night with what was supposed to be a temporary overnight shutdown as part of planned maintenance work. But when crews went to restore the service in the morning, they discovered a more substantial leak that would need major repairs.
Temporary repairs were made Monday. But hospital officials say rigorous legal requirements for testing the water quality mean they won't be able to restore service until at least Saturday.
The temporary lines were in place by Monday afternoon, but the testing process itself takes several hours, and then getting results back from the lab takes at least another 48 hours.
