Emory Midtown, Grady hospitals getting back to normal after water outages

Emory University Hospital Midtown and Grady Memorial Hospital are getting back to normal following the repairs of several water main breaks in Atlanta.

Emory said Sunday that water pressure is back, ambulances have resumed normal admissions and the hospital will resume regular schedules for outpatient doctor’s appointments, procedures and surgeries on Monday.

The hospital will continue to provide bottled water to patients, visitors and staff while the hospital remains under a boil water advisory.

“We thank our teams for their hard work and for the safe, quality care provided to our patients during this disruption,” the hospital said in a statement. “We also thank the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management teams for working around the clock to restore the water.”

Emory University Hospital Midtown was forced to go on diversion and move some patients after numerous water main breaks Friday left much of Atlanta without water.

The situation grew so serious by Saturday afternoon, that the hospital — which has about 500 patients hospitalized — didn’t even have enough water pressure to flush toilets and was forced to rely on bottled water for all water needs.

The emergency department at Emory University Hospital Midtown was on diversion for ambulance traffic, with the exception of patients having urgent heart problems. About 10 patients who need dialysis were transferred to other Emory hospitals for treatment. Dialysis is dependent on the pressure of a local municipal water supply.

Most outpatient doctor’s appointments, such as oncology and radiology appointments, were rescheduled Saturday for another day or were shifted to another Emory location. Some laboratory testing was also moved to other Emory hospitals.

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

Meanwhile, at Grady Memorial Hospital, water service had been restored Sunday and water pressure had “increased significantly” according to a statement from the hospital.

All appointments, procedures, and surgeries will return to normal operations at Grady on Monday, the hospital said.

On Saturday, Grady continued to experience low water pressure after the water main breaks. Elective procedures were canceled, but the hospital remained “fully operational” and the emergency room was accepting all patients,” according to a statement from Grady administrators Saturday.

“We are thankful for our team who has gone above and beyond to ensure patient safety and to continue delivering exceptional care during this time,” Grady said in a statement. “We also appreciate the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management working to resolve this issue.”

The Atlanta water crisis, however, seemed far from over Sunday afternoon. Authorities announced they were investigating two new potential main breaks at Euclid and North avenues and at 1190 Atlantic Drive NW.

Residents and businesses in those areas, according to city officials, might experience the kinds of disruptions that have plagued Atlanta since the first water main break was discovered Friday near Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and James P. Brawley Drive.