Burst pipe floods Memorial Health Meadows Hospital, forcing closure of services

by Stephanie Adkisson

VIDALIA, Ga. (WTOC) - A main water pipe burst at Memorial Health Meadows Hospital late Sunday evening sent an estimated 250,000 gallons of water through the first floor, forcing the closure of several key services, including the operating room, same-day surgery, labor and delivery and radiology.

The pipe, which feeds into the hospital’s sprinkler system, caused water to flow through the first floor, reaching a depth of two to three inches at its highest point, with wall damage extending approximately two feet up. The cause of the burst has not yet been determined.

Services affected, patients rerouted

Chief Medical Officer Karen McColl said patients who were already inside the hospital at the time of the flooding were not affected. However, others had to be redirected.

“Some patients had to be rerouted to different facilities for delivery,” McColl said.

Patients were advised to go to several nearby hospitals that agreed to accept them, including Fairview Park in Dublin, Memorial Health, Jacksonville HCA, Augusta HCA and Satilla.

McColl said the hospital is grateful to those HCA facilities that accepted some of their patients with open arms.

What remained open

The hospital’s emergency room and the Tommy and Shirley Strickland Cancer Center remained, and continues to remain, open and operational throughout the flooding and cleanup.

Cleanup and repairs underway

More than 60 contractors are currently on-site working to replace walls and floors damaged by the water. McColl said much of the operating room equipment came through the flood undamaged, but some radiology and Cath lab equipment sustained water damage.

McColl also said the hospital credits HCA for how quickly they were able to coordinate the response and begin restoring operations.

“A lot of our OR equipment was not damaged in the flood,” McColl said. “Unfortunately, some of our radiology equipment and some of our Cath lab equipment, the housing units are in the floor and so they were damaged with the water.”

McColl said the hospital’s prior experience responding to Hurricane Helene gave staff the knowledge and framework to react quickly to the disaster.

“In this disaster, it is basically the hospital that’s affected, but the community is affected because they can’t come here for the expected care that they want,” McColl said.

She credited staff members across departments for stepping up during the emergency.

“Odd jobs to sweep water and squeegee hallways, and that’s not necessarily in their job description, but everyone has pitched in to really help us,” McColl said.