BROCKTON, Mass. — A power outage at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton has forced the closure and evacuation of some areas of the hospital, and ambulances are being diverted to other hospitals, emergency management officials said Saturday.
The emergency room remains open to walk-in patients, according to the Brockton Emergency Management Agency.
The outage is due to a plumbing issue and required a limited number of patients to be moved to Good Samaritans’ sister hospitals, a spokesperson with Steward Health told Boston 25 News. There is no flooding in patient areas.
Crews were on scene at the hospital to address the power outage on Saturday. A reverse 911 call went out to Brockton residents around 4:30 p.m. alerting them of the hospital’s power outage.
Saturday’s power outage at Good Samaritan added yet another strain to the region’s emergency hospital services.
Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital remains closed with no emergency services following a multi-alarm transformer fire on Feb. 7 prompted a massive emergency response and forced the evacuation of hundreds of patients.
Norwood Hospital also remains closed, more than three years after severe flooding forced that hospital’s sudden closure and evacuation of patients there.
The two hospitals in Brockton serve patients in several towns in southeastern Massachusetts.
Local residents were advised on Saturday to use one of the area’s urgent care centers for non-life-threatening medical issues.
A Steward Health Care spokesperson said crews are working diligently to find the cause of a power outage.
“As patient safety is always our No. 1 priority, our patients are receiving uninterrupted care,” the spokesperson said.
This is the second time since August that Good Samaritan has had issues with accepting patients or ambulances.
On Aug. 28, the hospital went into “Code Black,” meaning it was no accepting any emergency room patients, when the hospital’s phone and Internet systems were down.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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