KOTA KINABALU, April 20 ― The operating theatre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 (QEH1) here has been forced closed till tomorrow until its electricity supply is stable again.
Sabah Health director Dr Rose Nani Mudin said that 28 elective surgeries scheduled to take place at QEH1 had to be postponed while other emergency surgeries have been diverted to the Queen Elizabeth 2 Hospital and the Women and Children Hospital in Likas for the time being.
“The temporary closure of the operating theatre is to ensure the electricity supply from the generators are sufficient to supply the wards and ensure the Intensive Care Unit is stable,” she said.
QEH1 has been running on its generators after a power outage late last night, but faulty wires triggered more power failures throughout the hospital.
Technicians have been working round the clock to resolve the problems and backup generators from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) are being used.
“At the moment, concessionaire Sedafiat is still working to fix the faulty electrical cables that will restore the power,” said Dr Rose.
Photos have been circulating on social media showing hospital staff using their mobile phone’s light to move around while the Fire and Rescue Department was called in to assist some who were stuck in the elevators.
QEH1’s power woes started early Tuesday morning when electricity supply to the hospital’s twin towers, specialist clinics and old medical block were disrupted.
Two old generators were used as backup while troubleshooting works went on.
By 8pm, power was fully restored in all units, including the intensive care unit although emergency cases needing critical services were transferred to QEH2.
However, supply to QEH1’s operating theatre was disrupted, putting it out of use since noon yesterday.
Meanwhile, in QEH2, a pipe burst occurred at 10.58am this morning, also postponing all elective surgeries until further notice.
A pipe to the main water tank burst and caused flooding in the linen room of the Sedafiat concessionaire in the basement of QEH2.
“The immediate action was to put in a connecting pipe temporarily while they cleaned up the flooding and fixed the burst pipe. Repairs are expected to be completed by 8pm tonight.
“All elective surgeries scheduled for today have been postponed and only emergency surgeries will be performed until the pipe is fixed. Every other service will be going on as normal,” said Dr Rose.
