Evacuations underway at Jefferson Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia due to power outage
A burst pipe caused a power outage and forced Jefferson Methodist Hospital to close on Tuesday night in South Philadelphia, officials said.
Evacuations continued into Wednesday morning at the hospital on South Broad Street as patients were taken to nearby hospitals in the city.
"We are transporting patients to nearby facilities," Jefferson said in a statement Tuesday night. "Individuals seeking to reunite with family members or loved ones should call our information line at (215) 463-2031."
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told CBS News Philadelphia a pipe burst in the basement of the hospital, filling it with about three feet of water, which caused the outage and is the reason why the backup generator did not activate.
Sources tell CBS News Philadelphia the temperature inside the hospital's intensive care unit was 88 degrees during the outage. Because of the severity of the situation, that area of the hospital was evacuated first.
Small said patients were being kept cool by battery-powered air conditioning while they waited for transport.
Wednesday morning, Jefferson Health CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said 120 patients were in the hospital at the time of the outage. Just before 8 a.m., the last 15 were being evacuated.
The hospital's emergency room remains open for walk-in patients, but ambulances and emergency arrivals are being diverted to other hospitals, Cacchione said.
The outage happened as the city dealt with a second-straight day of record heat. On Tuesday, Philly recorded its hottest temperature ever in May at 98 degrees, which broke the previous record of 97 set in 1991.
No injuries or complications were reported when transferring patients.
The hospital is expected to remain closed for several weeks.